Leslie Caldwell

Leslie Caldwell (d. May 1910) is an fictional American Pinkerton Detective, investigating cases of the Supernatural in the "Penny Dreadful" serial play series from 2007-2009. These plays were produced by Bryan Enk and Matt Gray in Brooklyn New York. The character of Leslie Caldwell is played by actor Matt Gray.
Family and Early life
Leslie was believed to be born on or around July 23, 1876. Because of a suspected cover up of some sort, Leslie Caldwell's early life remains shrouded in mystery. It is known that he was married to a one Ethel Caldwell, who in many circles is believed to actually be Etta Place, the one time companion of the American outlaws Butch Cassidy (real name Robert LeRoy Parker) and the Sundance Kid (Harry Alonzo Longabaugh). He was also very close to Ethel's own mother, who disappeared in 1910 never to be seen again.
Career
Not much is known about the circumstances that led up to Leslie Caldwell devoting his career to hunting down supernatural events, but some say his repeated investigations towards the whereabouts of The Sundance Kid led to his name being dragged through the mud. This very well may be the reason he began investigating cases that no one else would take: simply because he wasn't allowed to investigate anything else.
In March 1909, a third rate magician named Simon Viernik, later discovered to be Simeon Viernikovac, was performing a magic show claiming that he had a "vampire" in a cage next to him. When he tried to reveal the supposed "vampire," the audience saw that it was an empty cage, and booed him off the stage. The San Francisco Police Department called upon Viernik to assist Caldwell in his bizarre investigation of Robert Ford, a Pinkerton Detective, murdered and found with two holes in his neck. It was believed that the murdered detective was somehow linked to the "vampire" held in Viernik's cage. The investigation went sour after leading them to the doorstep of Cyrus Pierce, a well known man of society at the time, and a man who Robert Ford worked for before his death. There are several accounts about what was discovered on the deceased man. Some say the body was found with all of his blood drained out of him, much like the victims of Vampires in popular horror stories. Some claim that an electronic hearing aid was found on him. One of the more popular claims is that the victim had a tattoo of some sort on his body that read: "IRAQ - Desert Fox - 2003." There are groups that have formed all around the globe claiming that somehow this man, found in 1909, was actually from the future somehow. Most of these accounts lead to another classic myth called, "The Great Switcharoo."
It is believed that sometime in 1910 a mob hit was taken out on Leslie Caldwell. The reasons for this are not known, but several attempts on his life occurred in this year, beginning with an intruder who broke into the Caldwell home in March of 1910. The intruder was later identified as a mob stooge named Mateo "The Sombrero" Moreno. It is also rumored that famed Mobsters Ignazio Lupo, aka Lupo the Wolf, and Giuseppe Morello were somehow connected to the mob hits.
The final days of Caldwell's life found him still involved with the Vampire investigation and teamed up with Simon Viernik up to Viernik's disappearance around April 1910. Tragedy surrounded his final days, first with the murder of his beloved wife Ethel, who was found with her neck slit open inside a San Francisco spiritual medium's office. It is believed that Leslie Caldwell was kidnapped from the same location, as eye witnesses last saw the detective enter the Medium's office with his wife, but never exited. The next day, Caldwell's house burned to the ground and a few days later, Caldwell's bullet ridden body was found in the basement of the late Cyrus Pierce. Several bodies were found that day. There are strange reports that the body of President Teddy Roosevelt was also found that day, which is very strange indeed, as history has told us that Roosevelt died in his sleep on January 6, 1916 at Oyster Bay. This has led some to theorize of Political cover ups, or even go as far as suggesting "alternate realities." What exactly happened there has never been fully explained to this day, but many conspiracy theories abound. Most of them have to do with Caldwell's supposed obsession with something called, "The Book of Days," and a cult of political figures and high society members hell bent on the end of the world and/or the search for eternal life. Caldwell is buried in San Francisco, next to his wife Ethel.

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