From the Personal Archives of Richard Matthews — London, 1905
What follows are the recovered journal entries of Richard Matthews—a private investigator by trade—and his involvement in the infamous case of London's vanishing children. These documents, long thought lost, shed new light on one of the city's most perplexing mysteries, and the man Commissioner Edward Richard Henry trusted to solve it.
The official records confirm 12 disappearances—9 of which were children. With no signs of forced entry and no helpful clues, the lead inspector assumes foreign spies are the culprit, eager to get their hands on naval shipping secrets.
But these journal entries suggest a darker tale.
Whether these pages contain the ramblings of a man lost to his vices, or a truth too terrible for history to acknowledge, I leave to the reader's judgment. The journal, along with its accompanying letters, offers a window into one of London's most enigmatic cases—a mystery that has come to be known as “The Ageless.”
What follows is his story, presented in its entirety for the first time.
Reader, be warned: some doors, once opened, cannot be easily closed.
The 64K Society