Who won it? Mail reader turns sleuth to scoop £25k prize
JAMES Henderson hasn’t told his family he has scooped £25,000 in this week’s Daily Mail competition – because he still can’t believe it himself.
The retired engineering inspector, 70, is the first winner of our Murder Mystery puzzle, which required readers to work out the name of the killer in our short story.
The story told how intrepid explorer Sir Arthur Dingwall-Main had been killed in the library at his country estate home. Readers had to solve daily clues in last week’s newspapers by writing down the name of the country to which different flags belonged.
They then had to solve an anagram of the first letter of the capital cities of each country.
Mr Henderson submitted his answer – Harold, the chauffeur – on Friday and received a call on Saturday morning to say he had won. ‘I was doing a jigsaw with my wife Susan when the phone rang,’ he said.
‘We never get any calls [in the morning] and when I looked at the time I thought aha! It was a huge shock to be told I had won. I still don’t believe it.’ Mr Henderson, who lives in Swindon, knew most of the answers but ‘had to ask Google for help’ on a couple of occasions.
Mr Henderson said he and his wife plan on putting the money towards Christmas presents for their children and grandchildren. ‘We always try to get nice presents but this year will be extra special,’ he said.
‘We still haven’t told any of them because until we have the money I won’t believe it.
‘My daughter Sarah actually called me on Saturday morning and asked what I have been up to this week.
‘When I told her I had entered another competition she said, “Nobody ever wins those”.
‘Maybe I’ll wait until she sees my name in the paper before telling her.’
The couple also plan to treat themselves to a holiday next year but haven’t decided on a destination yet. ‘I’m trying not to think about it too much because I’m still not sure I’ve really won,’ Mr Henderson added.
‘I’ve bought the Daily Mail for as long as I can remember and I’ll certainly keep entering competitions. Who knows – maybe I could win two.’
There are three more chances to win £25,000. Every Saturday we will print a thrilling new murder mystery story in Weekend magazine and provide your first clue, along with the list of suspects and a detailed illustration of the crime scene.
If you missed the first murder, which was written by Simon Booker of hit TV show The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, go to www.dailymail.co.uk/mystery to catch up online.