Chapter 3

March 21^st, 2000, Andy Thorsen

Andrew Thorsen is significantly larger than Sherry Lindquist, not only does he have a foot on her height wise, he is also seventy-five pounds heavier. He works out twice a day six days a week and is incredibly agile for a fifty-three-year-old man.

Sherry Lindquist landed with a heavy thud at the bottom of the stairs. Andrew Thorsen takes each step slowly, watching for any movement from the woman at the bottom of the stairs. He reaches the bottom and studies Sherry’s broken body, he bends over and carefully checks her pockets. Keys in the left pocket, gloves in the right, he unzips her jacket and checks the hidden breast pocket, there’s what he’s looking for, a thick envelope addressed to John Johansson, superintendent of District 281. He opens the envelope and scans the two pages that it contains. He carefully folds the letter, places it in his jacket pocket and slowly takes the stairs back up to the second floor.

There are only two cars left in the faculty lot on the northeast side of the building, his red 1997 Toyota Tacoma and Sherry’s silver 1992 Subaru Legacy wagon. Andrew waits for the east entrance security light to turn off before entering the cab of his truck. He starts the engine, turns down the radio, turns up the heat, checks the rear-view mirror, and then removes the letter from his jacket and reads it. Two pages front and back, four total, Andrew sits in his truck, after a still moment he folds the letter along the crease and sets it on the passenger seat, he shifts the truck into drive and heads home.

The small ranch in Hopkins is dark when he pulls into the driveway. Beverly’s Camry isn’t in the driveway, she’s at book club on Tuesdays, then she was going down to Rochester to see her sister. Theresa, their daughter is away for the week for her fifth-grade environmental education trip. Andrew exits the truck and enters the quiet home, he washes his hand thoroughly, like he does everyday after practice. He turns on the Timberwolves game, they’re paying the Celtics in Boston, and the second quarter has just started. There’s leftover lasagna in the fridge that he reheats in the microwave before taking it to the living room and watching the game.

At half time Andrew returns to the truck and removes the letter from the passenger seat, he reads it again on the couch with the TV muted. He sets it on the TV tray and unmutes the TV as the second half begins. Between the third and fourth quarter Andrew walks to the kitchen and takes Michelob Ultra from the fridge and returns to the couch.

After the game Andrew switched to channel 5 for the local 10 o’clock news. Theres a graphic of a school bus in the top right corner of the screen.

The male anchor, Scott Bergson looks seriously at the camera. “Our top story tonight comes from Cooper Senior High School in New Hope, where beloved teacher Sherry Lindquist was found dead from an apparent fall down the stairs,” Scott pauses, and a faculty photo of Sherry appears on the screen. “We have Superintendent Dr. John Johansson on the phone now.

Andrew turns up the volume and walks to the kitchen, Mr. Johansson’s voice follows him. “Thanks for having me, Scott,” Superintendent Johansson begins. “Obviously a huge impact on our school community, we’re cancelling classes tomorrow and will be hosting a community memorial for Mrs. Sherry Lindquist in the gymnasium. If you knew her or are a former student, it would mean a lot if you could come out and pay your respects.”

“Thank you for being with us and I’m sorry for your loss,” Scott says. Superintend Johansson thanks him and hangs up. “More details and an interview with New Hope police chief Adders after the break.

Andrew opens the fridge and takes out the package of ground beef I bought from Cub foods on 36^th and sets it on the counter, he takes two cans of cream of mushroom soup and a can of peas, and a can of corn grin the cupboard above the toaster, lastly, he takes a yellow onion from the onion bowl. He heats a pan on medium heat and carefully sets the beef in, once the grease is sizzling and the beef is browning, he carefully removes half of it then adds the diced onion. When the onion is translucent, he lowers the heat adds the cream of mushroom, corn and peas then adds a dash of salt and two cracks of pepper. The oven signals it has reached temperature, he takes a clean 9x13 glass dish and with masking tape and a sharpie he writes A. Thorsen. He carefully pours the mixture into the dish, takes a block of cheddar from the fridge, bags of shredded cheeses sweat, giving the wrong texture. The cheese is spread evenly over the beef. He then takes a bag of tater tots from the freezer and carefully lines them in the same direction, before putting it in the oven he tops the tots with another layer of cheese.

With the hot dish in the oven Andrew stands at the sink staring out the window into his backyard while the news plays in the background, an interview with the police chief, Samuel Adders, the weather, another week of spring weather, temps climbing into the low fifties. Sports, the Timberwolves beat the Celtics in overtime, and the Twins lost a spring training game against the Royals. Andrew leaves the kitchen and turns off the TV, he takes a lighter from the side table and walks back to the kitchen, he takes the letter from the counter and holds it over the sink. The lighter clicks once, twice and lights on the third, he holds the flame up to the letter and watches as the flame consumes the correspondence, only letting go when the flame consumes the last centimeter of paper. He rubs the ash of his thumb and forefinger and washes the remains down the drain.

The parking lot is overrun, his normal spot is taken, and so is his backup spot. He parks in the back corner of the faculty lot and makes his way to the gymnasium where the memorial is being held. He carries the hot dish through the busy gym, he nods and mingles with old students, they come up to him and share their condolences, he shares individualized anecdotes from her time at Cooper, he sees several tear-streaked faces in the crowded gym.

One of the most distraught faces is Violet Rasmussen, now Longmeadow. Tears cover her cheeks, her eyes are puffy and red. On her hip is a four-year-old girl in an Elmo sweatshirt.

“Mr. Thorsen!” Violet says, a melancholy smile crosses her face, she comes out from behind the table full of different hot dishes, he sets down his pan and gives her a tight hug. Everyone knew Mrs. Lindquist inspired Violet to become a high school English teacher, she was Violet’s favorite teacher and was there during a tough time in Violet’s life, wrote her a glowing letter of recommendation and helped her develop her curriculum.

“Good to see you Violet, horrible circumstances, the union kept telling maintenance they needed to fix that stair,” they break the hug, and he smiles at the girl, she giggles at him as he sticks out his tongue at her. “And who is this?”

“Sandra,” Violet says, “Sandra Longmeadow, my daughter.”

New Hope Cold Case Unit Official Case Report—Homicide
Case Number	NHCCU-047
Victim	Sherry Grace Lindquist
Date	03/21/2000
Location	East stairwell Cooper HS
Original Ruling	Accidental fall, poor visibility and damaged step, wet marble.
Investigation	11 Days, Detective Ron Johnson. No forensic evidence of foul play.
Status	Cold-Reopened 3/21/2026-New lead.
The coat what was in the pocket? Track the certified mail, where did it go? Why wasn’t it traced?

Evidence List
Number	Item	Description
E-01	Puffy Purple Columbia Coat	Unzipped and open at the scene, breast pocket unzipped, keys and gloves found in other pockets
E-02	Motion Sensor	30 second activation at 5:50pm
E-03	Certified Mail Receipt	Found in victims purse dated 3/21/2000. Not traced. Sister mentioned retirement documents.
E-04	Personal Journal	Husband and coworkers mention victim writing more frequently, journal not found.
E-05	Faculty lot security camera	Nonfunctional due to student prank.
E-06	Desk Drawer	Empty, coworkers mention kept student documentation in and around desk.