Alexander von Reisden

Alexander von Reisden is a fictional character in a three book historical mystery series by Sarah Smith. The novels, set in turn of the 20th century Boston and pre-World War I Paris, are The Vanished Child (1992), The Knowledge of Water (1996), and A Citizen of the Country (2000).
Reisden is an Austrian baron and chemist with an unexplained gap in his childhood memories. His 1905 return to America solves both the question of the murder of William Knight and the eighteen-year-old disappearance of Knight's grandson Richard.
Reisden discovers that he is, in fact, Richard Knight. His grandfather was physically abusive and Richard shot him. Unable to deal with what he had done, the child stowed away on a ship that was bound for Africa. There, he lived the life of a street child, sometimes sleeping under a bridge or working for a junk seller. At age 10, Reisden was discovered by Count Leo von Loewenstein, a wealthy Austrian aristocrat and diplomat...