The Murder Of John Henrikson | Teen Ink

The Murder Of John Henrikson MAG

By Anonymous

   As Inspector Davidson drove up to the apartment building where the murder had taken place, a young officer approached his car. As Davidson got out, the officer said, "I'll take you up to the scene of the murder."

The young officer led him up the stairwell to the seventh floor of the nine-floor building. In the third apartment on the right lay the body of John Henrikson. As Davidson entered, he saw Detective Hunt in the far corner, the body of Henrikson on the floor between the sofa and coffee table, and the two women sitting at the table to the right, looking very distraught. Davidson approached Det. Hunt to get an explanation of what had happened.

"Henrikson was murdered about an hour and a half ago," began Hunt. "Apparently the motive was robbery. He went out for an evening stroll and when he came home, someone burst in, shot him, and robbed him. The two women at the table over there say he always carries around his valuable coin in his pocket. That coin is a mint-condition silver dollar from the time of the American Civil War that is worth $50,000. His pocket contents are all in this plastic bag, and the coin isn't there." Hunt held up a plastic bag with a black leather wallet, a pack of chewing gum, a shopping list, and a five-dollar bill. "We also found the gun used to kill Henrikson. There are no prints on it, or anywhere else in the apartment for that matter, so the killer probably wore gloves." He held up the gun, which was in a plastic bag with a silencer on the nozzle.

"Why don't we go over and interview the women again," said Davidson.

"Sure," replied Hunt. They walked over to the table where the two women were sitting and Davidson introduced himself.

"I'm Carly Henrikson," said the first woman. "I'm John's sister."

"I'm Ms. Kendlestone," said the second lady. "I live in the apartment across the hall."

"Could each of you tell me what happened tonight, starting with Carly?" asked Davidson.

"Well, John went out earlier this evening on his regular walk," began Carly. "I heard him go out the door jingling his silver dollar. While he was gone, I cleaned the apartment from top to bottom. When he came home, he was still jingling his coin in his pocket. Before he could close the door, two men burst in. One came straight for me and bound and gagged me and threw me on the bed in the bedroom. I didn't have time to scream. I heard two quiet shots. Then I heard them run out of the apartment. When I was sure that they could not hear me anymore, I screamed for help. Ms. Kendlestone heard me and came over. She quickly called the police and freed me. That's when the police arrived."

"Okay, now I'd like to hear your account of tonight, Ms. Kendlestone," said Davidson.

"I heard John coming back from his walk," she said, "I also heard him jingling his coin. I've always told him somebody would try and take it someday, and I was right. Anyway, he came home. I didn't pay much attention until Carly screamed. I rushed over, saw John lying on the floor, and called the police. After that, I went into the bedroom and found Carly on the bed bound and gagged. After I freed Carly, the police arrived."

"Well, that wraps up this case," said Davidson. "I trust you know who to arrest, Detective Hunt?"

"I certainly do," replied Hunt.

Who was arrested and why?



Answer: Carly Henrikson and Ms. Kendlestone both say that they heard John Henrikson jingling his coin, yet there was nothing in his pockets to jingle the coin against. Both women also claim that Carly yelled for help. This contradicts the statement both women made that Carly was gagged. Finally, both women also claim that Ms. Kendlestone called the police on the Henrikson phone, yet there were no fingerprints found in the house. If she had dialed with gloveless hands, there would have been fingerprints on the phone. She made the error of forgetting to take off her gloves after she shot Henrikson.' 1



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This article has 3 comments.


i love this !

The~Watcher said...
on May. 16 2011 at 5:22 pm
It sounds like an Encyclopedia Brown knockoff to me. The mystery (that a coin in a pocket full of soft objects can't jingle) came straight from the story 'The Case of the Silver Dollar'. The format and style mimicked the books too- the last few lines could have been lifted word for word. While it's not plagarism exactly, the author could have at least been courtious enough to credit Donald J. Sobol.

on Mar. 19 2010 at 8:35 am
littlewriter97, Dover, New Hampshire
0 articles 0 photos 23 comments
First of all I wanted to say that this was very clever!!! You would make a good mystery author!!!! Second, so who was arrested? Ms. Kendelstone obviouslt was but since Carly had lied about the situation, was she also arrested?

Fabulous Job!!!!