Mystery Short Story

     “Well detective, it looks like we have another murder on our hands,” said the police officer.

     “It seems like those are the only crimes we are investigating these days,” replied Detective Jim Nanz.

     The detective and officer stood outside the yellow police tape inside the old subway station. They had been called in to investigate the most recent murder. The victim, Fred Johnson, was one of the most admired and wealthiest athletes and coaches in the country. He had recently retired from coaching a local college team to spend more time with his family.

     “Were you able to locate the murder weapon?” Asked Detective Nanz

     “No sir.” Replied the officer, “The only part to this death we know is that there is trauma to the head.”

     “Alright.” Responded Detective Nanz, “I’m going to look around and see if I can find anything.”

    There wasn’t much to look around for. All that was there was Mr. Johnson’s body in the middle of the old subway tracks. The detective was puzzled by the fact it was this man who was killed. When all of a sudden, something caught his eye. It was a gold ring. He picked it up to examine it and noticed that there were initials on the inside. They were the letters S and J.

     “Well looks like we found our first suspect,” said Detective Nanz

     Detective Nanz pulled up in his car out front of the Johnsons’ home. He went up to the front door and Mrs. Johnson answered.

     “Hello Mrs. Johnson,” said Detective Nanz, “may I come in?”

    “Oh well I guess,” said Mrs. Johnson

     He expressed severe sympathy for her loss, but he also explained what had happened. She had already been notified by the police and she didn’t seem too sad. She explained how her husband had changed since he retired. He had been a lot meaner and started drinking more the usual. She went on for a while just talking. Detective Nanz still couldn’t get over the fact she hadn’t shed a tear over her husband’s death. She almost seemed happy he was gone.  He saw Mrs. Johnson’s hand and noticed she wore a ring on every finger. However, one finger was absent of a ring.

     “You wear a lot of rings Mrs. Johnson,” said Detective Nanz

     “Oh yes,” she said. “I just love them, but I’m missing one. I think it fell off at the retirement party.”

     “What kind of ring was it?” asked Detective Nanz.

     “It was actually the smallest one I own. It was small and gold,” she answered.

      Well now Detective Nanz was almost sure she had been somehow involved with her husband’s death. But how could she have over powered him? That was the question that bothered the detective. Before he convicted her of the murder, he was going to have to talk with some of the others that were close with the victim. Next on his list was Scott Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. Johnsons’ son.

     He arrived at Scott’s house. He went to the door to knock, but noticed that nobody was home. Little did he know Scott was out of town at the time. Well he now knew his son would know nothing of the murder. So now he would have to go and see the last person on his list. That was Fred’s agent, Thomas Kingman.

     Detective Nanz arrived at Thomas Kingman’s agency and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But that mood changed as soon as he went into the agent’s office. Mr. Kingman was very sad and didn’t know what to do without his most prized client. The detective was greeted by a large man who had not been in the greatest mood.

     “Hello sir, my name is Detective Jim Nanz and I’m investigating the murder of your client Fred Johnson. Do you mind if I ask you a couple questions?” said Detective Nanz.

     “Of course not,” replied Thomas. “I will do whatever it takes to catch Fred’s killer.”

     Thomas told Detective Nanz that the two were really good friends and how they played ball together in high school. He spoke very highly of Mr. Johnson. He also said how Mr. and Mrs. Johnson had been fighting a lot lately. The Detective told Thomas he had spoken to Mrs. Johnson.

     “Did Mr. Johnson drink a lot?” Asked the detective.

     “Oh heavens no,” replied Thomas. “He actually never had a drink in his life.”

     Well this put more holes in Mrs. Johnson’s story. As of now all signs pointed to her. Detective Nanz thanked Thomas for his time. There was now no doubt in his mind that Mrs. Johnson had committed the murder. He first had to stop back at his office before he went to arrest Mrs. Johnson.

     When he arrived back at Mrs. Johnson’s home, he noticed something different. None of the lights were on and nobody was home, but he noticed all the cars were there. There was something that bothered him. There was an extra car sitting in the driveway. He had seen the car before, but he wasn’t sure from where. He walked up to the door to see if she was home. As he knocked on the door he knew where he had seen the car. All of a sudden he heard a loud crash. He ran inside and saw Mrs. Johnson’s knocked out on the floor of the living room. Standing over her was Mr. Kingman with a large object in his hands. Detective Nanz grabbed him and handcuffed him. Once the ambulance arrived to help Mrs. Johnson, Thomas admitted everything. He said he planted the ring at the scene to frame her. He was tired of Mr. Johnson not paying him for all he had done and not giving him any credit. This was one of the most bizarre crimes Detective Nanz had ever investigated