Chrissy Siggee

The Mystery of Keats’ Missing ‘Endymion’ - Solved

Historian Albert Winslow sat at his desk in a sparsely furnished London office. Using two large wooden tweezers, he gently unrolled the manuscript. Faded calligraphy on tea coloured paper, revealed its age and fragility. With a magnifying glass he studied the almost illegible signature confirming the author, John Keats.

Winslow peered over the top of his wire-framed spectacles and studied the gentleman sitting opposite who repeatedly wiped his balding head with a handkerchief. “Sir, where did you say you found this manuscript?”

“Well … I didn’t exactly find it. It was … um … part of my inheritance.”

Removing his spectacles, the historian eyed the man suspiciously. “What did you say your name was?”

“Kent. Michael Kent.”

“Well, Mr. Kent, this signature doesn’t appear to resemble a Kent.”

“Oh, um … it was handed down on my mother’s side. My mother changed my surname name when she remarried.”

“I see. Leave it with me, Mr. Kent. I’ll have it valued for you by tomorrow. Leave your details with my secretary on the way out.” He rose and shook his client’s hand.

 ***

Winslow’s secretary entered his office the following morning. He looked up as she reached his desk.

“Miss Harwich, could you please place a call to a Lord David Keats of Hampstead? Give him my name and switch him through to my office. Give me a few minutes though, I need to talk to Scotland Yard.”

“Yes, Mr. Winslow.”

***

“Lord Keats?”

“Yes, this is he.”

“I believe I have in my possession your great grandfather’s missing manuscript, ‘Endymion’.”

“How can that be? It disappeared after he died, in 1821, almost a century ago?”

“Yes, I know. I also know that your father, Lord Alfred Keats, passed away last week, my condolences.”

“Thank you, but how do you know and what does his death have to do with my great grandfather’s manuscript?”

“Your father paid me to know. You see, I’m a historian and a private investigator. Your father visited me here in London on December sixth last year. The manuscript had apparently resurfaced and he hired me to investigate its location. I sent him a wire last Monday about my findings; before his heart attack. He didn’t mention it?”

“No, and I’m not sure why he would hire anyone. Until Christmas, my father and I had been investigating the mystery disappearance together for almost a decade.”

Winslow carefully chose his words before proceeding. “Perhaps, Lord Keats, your father discovered he hadn’t been told when someone had found it. That someone decided to use it for his own financial gain.”

“What are you implying, Mr. Winslow?”

“Let me refresh your memory. Two years ago your cousin, Michael Kent, inherited a meagre bequest. While clearing out his mother’s writing bureau, Kent discovered a key to a safe deposit box which contained a letter from his grandfather—your grandfather’s younger brother. With that letter was your great grandfather’s manuscript. The letter described in detail how your grandfather cheated him out of his share or their father’s estate. Your great uncle stole the manuscript after your great grandfather’s death in 1821—before he could have it published. Are you following me, Lord Keats?”

“Continue, Mr. Winslow. I find your hypothesis intriguing.”

“Late last year, your cousin decided it was time to show his hand by attempting to blackmail your father. Because your father didn’t want his conniving nephew to get his hands on his money, he came directly to me. We thought it was an open and shut case until I discovered that Michael Kent had an accomplice—someone who wanted revenge for an unrelated incident years before. Unfortunately, that piece of information inadvertently killed your father. The accomplice was you. Am I right, Lord Keats?”

“You’re very clever, Mr. Winslow. There’s one thing you haven’t explained. How did you get your hands on the manuscript?”

“That was the easy part. After your father’s death, you and your cousin initiated plan B: to sell the manuscript to a publisher and split the profit. However, your cousin decided to have it valued first. Unfortunately for you both, he came to me. I advertise my professions separately and I only display my name on the door.”

There was a notable silence followed by a murmur of voices at Lord Keats’ end of the line. “You’ll have to excuse me, Mr. Winslow. Apparently, I have visitors.”

“Ah yes, my friends from Scotland Yard: blackmail is a serious crime. Good day to you, Lord Keats.”
***
© Chrissy Siggee
Authors Notes: English poet John Keats, born October 1795 in Moorgate, London, died in February 1821 at the age of 26 from tuberculosis. His works had been the target of much abuse including his last epic poem ‘Endymion’. John Keats never married, which should indicate that the contents of: “The Mystery of Keats’ Missing ‘Endymion’ – Solved” set in the early twentieth century, is completely fictional.

The Great Commission

Then Jesus told him (Thomas) Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed. John 20:29

You may have heard the phrase; I live by faith and not by sight.  However, do we really believe it?

One of the most exciting things we can do in our Christian walk is to lead another to Christ.

Visiting up to two hundred women a month in a maternity ward was a great experience for me. However, with the opportunity of seeing patients only once or twice, building any kind of relationship was impossible so finding an opportunity to lead one of those women to Christ was not an easy task. I also had the restrictions with all the privacy laws placed on us within the hospital system.

My spirit needed to be prepared for the opportunity when it arose.  It was a privilege to lead about ten percent of the women through a prayer of salvation, and yes, I still feel the same shiver of excitement, when someone comes to Christ, as I did the first time. 

However, because I only had the opportunity to visit a few times during their short stay and never any longer than half an hour, I did not get that chance to see them develop in their Christian walk.  Many came from places some hundreds of miles away. I could only encourage them to seek out a church in their hometowns and pray for them. This is where I needed to live by faith and not by sight. I needed to believe that the new Christians would go on in their Christian walk.

I was restricted in the hospital setting, but we all meet people in our every day lives.  Where are the new believers, why are there so many seats still empty in our churches?  It is not just the pastors job. We all have a duty to lead others to Christ, to bring people into the family of God.

I leave you all with a new challenge this week, and I am speaking to myself here as well.  We need to step out in faith and share the good news to someone this coming week. We need to bring the lost to Christ. We need to live by faith and not by sight. We need to believe lives, can be changed.

However, we need to believe it, before we see it. Prepare your heart before God every day. Ask Him to guide you and to help you to be ready for when the opportunity comes. 

Take on the challenge. Speak to someone this week about salvation because The Great Commission as our Commission, and believe

© Chrissy Siggee