ake up a position close behind him with a large
wicker trunk. Having been sworn, and requested by Anstey to tell the
Court what he knew about the case, he commenced without preamble:

"About half-past four in the afternoon of the 28th of September I walked
down Sundersley Gap with Dr. Jervis. Our attention was attracted by
certain footprints in the sand, particularly those of a man who had
landed from a boat, had walked up the Gap, and presently returned,
apparently to the boat.

"As we were standing there Sergeant Payne and Dr. Burrows passed down
the Gap with two constables carrying a stretcher. We followed at a
distance, and as we walked along the shore we encountered another set of
footprints--those which the sergeant has described as the footprints of
the deceased. We examined these carefully, and endeavoured to frame a
description of the person by whom they had been made."

"And did your description agree with the characters of the deceased?"
the magistrate asked.

"Not in the least," replied Thorndyke, whereupon the magistrate, the
inspector, and Mr. Bashfield laughed long and heartily.

"When we turned into St. Bridget's Bay, I saw the body of deceased lying
on the sand close to the cliff. The sand all round was covered with
footprints, as if a prolonged, fierce struggle had taken place. There
were two sets of footprints, one set being apparently those of the
deceased and the other those of a man with nailed shoes of a very
peculiar and conspicuous pattern. The incredible folly that the wearing
of such shoes indicated caused me to look more closely at the
footprints, and then I made the surprising discovery that there had in
reality been no struggle; that, in fact, the two sets of footprints had
been made at different times."

"At different times!" the magistrate exclaimed in astonishment.

"Yes. The interval between them may have been one of hours or one only
of seconds, but the undoubted fact is that the two sets of footprints
were made, not simultaneously, but in succession."

"But how did you arrive at that fact?" the magistrate asked.

"It was very obvious when one looked," said Thorndyke. "The marks of the
deceased man's shoes showed that he repeatedly trod in his own
footprints; but never in a single instance did he tread in the
footprints of the other man, although they covered the same area. The
man with the nailed shoes, on the contrary, not only trod in his own
footprints, but with equal fre