 Chapter 1, Part 2 of John Thorndyke's Cases by R. Austin Freeman. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. A very singular history, this Jervis, he said, when having wished the Sergeant good night, we stepped out onto the dark road. What do you think of it? I hardly know what to think, I answered, but on the whole it seems rather against Draper than otherwise. He admits that he is an old criminal, and it appears that he was being persecuted and blackmailed by the man Hearn. It is true that he represents Jezad as being the leading spirit and prime mover in the persecution, but we have only his word for that. Hearn was in lodgings near him, and was undoubtedly taking the most active part in the business, and it is quite possible—and indeed probable—that Hearn was the actual Deus ex machina. Thorndyke nodded. Yes, he said. That is certainly the line the prosecution will take if we allow the story to become known. Ha! What is this? We are going to have some rain! Yes, and when, too, we are in for an autumn gale, I think. And that, said Thorndyke, may turn out to be an important factor in our case. How can the weather affect your case, I asked in some surprise. But as the rain suddenly descended in a pelting shower, my companion broke into a run, leaving my question unanswered. On the following morning which was fair and sunny after the stormy night, Dr. Burroughs called for my friend. He was on his way to the extemporised mortuary to make the post-mortem examination of the murdered man's body. Thorndyke, having notified the coroner that he was watching the case on behalf of the accused, had been authorised to be present at the autopsy. But the authorisation did not include me, and, as Dr. Burroughs did not issue any invitation, I was not able to be present. I met them, however, as they were returning, and it seemed to me that Dr. Burroughs appeared a little huffy. Your friend, said he in a rather injured tone, is really the most outrageous stickler for forms and ceremonies that I have ever met. Thorndyke looked at him with an amuse, twinkle, and chuckled indulgently. Here was a body, Dr. Burroughs continued irritably, found under circumstances clearly indicative of murder and bearing a knife wound that nearly divided the arch of the aorta, in spite of which, I assure you, that Dr. Thorndyke insisted on weighing the body and examining every organ, lungs, liver, stomach, and brain, yes, actually the brain, as if there had been no clue whatever to the cause of death, and then, as a climax, he insisted on sending the contents of the stomach in a jar, sealed with our respective seals in charge of a special messenger to Professor Copland for analysis and report. I thought he was going to demand an examination for the tubercle bacillus, but he didn't, which, concluded Dr. Burroughs, suddenly becoming sourly facetious, was an oversight for, after all, the fellow may have died of consumption. Thorndyke chuckled again, and I murmured that the precautions appeared to have been somewhat excessive. Not at all, was the smiling response. You are losing sight of our function. We are the expert and impartial umpires, and it is our business to ascertain with scientific accuracy the cause of death. The prima facia appearances in this case, suggest that the deceased was murdered by Draper, and that is the hypothesis advanced. But that is no concern of ours. It is not our function to confirm and hypothesis, suggested by outside circumstances, but rather, on the contrary, to make certain that no other explanation is possible. And that is my invariable practice. No matter how glaringly obvious the appearances may be, I refuse to take anything for granted. Dr. Burroughs received this statement with a grunt of dissent, but the arrival of his dog-card put a stop to further discussion. Thorndyke was not subpoenaed for the inquest. Dr. Burroughs and the sergeant having been present immediately after the finding of the body, his evidence was not considered necessary, and moreover, he was known to be watching the case in the interests of the accused. Like myself, therefore, he was present as a spectator, but as a highly interested one, for he took very complete, short-hand notes of the whole of the evidence and the coroner's comments. I shall not describe the proceedings in detail. The jury, having been taken to view the body, trooped into the room on tiptoe, looking pale and awe-stricken, and took their seats, and thereafter, from time to time, directed glances of furtive curiosity at Draper, as he stood pallid and haggard, confronting the court with a burly rural constable on either side. The medical evidence was taken first. Dr. Burroughs, having been sworn, began with sarcastic emphasis to describe the conditions of the lungs and liver, until he was interrupted by the coroner. Is all this necessary, the latter inquired, I mean, is it material to the subject of the inquiry? I should say not, replied Dr. Burroughs. It appears to me to be quite irrelevant, but Dr. Thawndyke, who is watching the case for the defence, thought it necessary. I think, said the coroner, you had better give us only the facts that are material. The jury want you to tell them what you consider to have been the cause of death. They don't want a lecture on pathology. The cause of death, said Dr. Burroughs, was a penetrating wound of the chest, apparently inflicted with a large knife. The weapon entered between the second and third ribs on the left side, close to the sternum or breast bone. It wounded the left lung and partially divided both the pulmonary artery and the aorta, the two principal arteries of the body. Was this injury alone sufficient to cause death? The coroner asked. Yes, was the reply. And death from injury to these great vessels would be practically instantaneous. Could the injury have been self-inflicted? So far as the position and nature of the wound are concerned, replied the witness, self-infliction would be quite possible. But since death would follow in a few seconds at the most, the weapon would be found either in the wound or grasped in the hand or at least quite close to the body. But in this case, no weapon was found at all and the wound must therefore certainly have been homicidal. Did you see the body before it was moved? Yes, it was lying on its back with the arms extended and the legs nearly straight and the sand in the neighborhood of the body was trampled as if a furious struggle had taken place. Did you notice anything remarkable about the footprints in the sand? I did, replied Dr. Burroughs. They were the footprints of two persons only. One of these was evidently the deceased whose footmarks could be easily identified by the circular rubber heels. The other footprints were those of a person, apparently a man, who wore shoes or boots, the soles of which were studded with nails and these nails were arranged in a very peculiar and unusual manner. For those on the soles formed a locinge or diamond shape and those on the heel were set out in the form of a cross. Have you ever seen shoes or boots with the nails arranged in this manner? Yes, I have seen a pair of shoes which I am informed belong to the accused. The nails in them are arranged as I have described. Would you say that the footprints of which you have spoken were made by those shoes? No, I could not say that. I can only say that to the best of my belief the pattern on the shoes is similar to that in the footprints. This was the sum of Dr. Burroughs' evidence and to all of it Thorn Dyke listened with an immovable countenance, though with the closest attention. Equally attentive was the accused man though not equally impassive. Indeed, so great was his agitation that presently one of the constables asked permission to get him a chair. The next witness was Arthur Jezzard. He testified that he had viewed the body and identified it as that of Charles Hearn. That he had been acquainted with deceased for some time but knew practically nothing of his affairs. At the time of his death, deceased was lodging in the village. Why did he leave the yacht, the coroner inquired? Was there any kind of disagreement? Not in the least, replied Jezzard. He grew tired of the confinement of the yacht and came to live ashore for a change. But we were the best of friends and he intended to come with us when we sailed. When did you see him last? On the night before the body was found, that is, last Monday. He had been dining on the yacht and we put him ashore about midnight. He said, as we were rowing him ashore, that he intended to walk home along the sands as the tide was out. He went up the stone steps by the watch-house and turned at the top to wish us good night. That was the last time I saw him alive. Do you know anything of the relations between the accused and the deceased? The coroner asked. Very little, replied Jezzard. Mr. Draper was introduced to us by the deceased about a month ago. I believe they had been acquainted some years and they appeared to be on excellent terms. There was no indication of any quarrel or disagreement between them. What time did the accused leave the yacht on the night of the murder? About ten o'clock. He said that he wanted to get home early as his housekeeper was away and he did not like the house to be left with no one in it. This was the whole of Jezzard's evidence and was confirmed by that of Leitch and Pitford. Then, when the fisherman had deposed to the discovery of the body, the sergeant was called and stepped forward, grasping a carpet-bag and looking as uncomfortable as if he had been the accused instead of a witness. He described the circumstances under which he saw the body, giving the exact time and place with official precision. You have heard Dr. Burrow's description of the footprints, the coroner, inquired. Yes, there were two sets. One set was evidently made by deceased. They showed that he entered St. Bridget's Bay from the direction of Port Marston. He had been walking along the shore just about High Watermark, sometimes above and sometimes below. Where he had walked below High Watermark, the footprints had, of course, been washed away by the sea. How far back did you trace the footprints of deceased? About two-thirds of the way to Sundersley Gap. Then they disappeared below High Watermark. Later in the evening, I walked from the gap into Port Marston, but could not find any further traces of deceased. He must have walked between the tide marks all the way from Port Marston to beyond Sundersley. When these footprints entered St. Bridget's Bay, they became mixed up with the footprints of another man, and the shore was trampled for a space of a dozen yards, as if a furious struggle had taken place. The strange man's tracks came down from the shepherd's path and went up it again. But owing to the hardness of the ground, from the dry weather, the tracks disappeared a short distance up the path, and I could not find them again. What were these strange footprints like, inquired the coroner. They were very peculiar, replied the sergeant. They were made by shoes armed with smallish hobnails, which were arranged in a diamond-shaped pattern on the holes and in a cross on the heels. I measured the footprints carefully and made a drawing of each foot at the time. Here the sergeant produced a long notebook, a funeral aspect, and having opened it at a marked place, handed it to the coroner, who examined it attentively, and then passed it on to the jury. From the jury, it was presently transferred to Thorndike, and looking over his shoulder, I saw a very workman-like sketch of a pair of footprints with the principal dimensions inserted. Thorndike surveyed the drawing critically, jotted down a few brief notes and returned the sergeant's notebook to the coroner, who, as he took it, turned once more to the officer. Have you any clue, sergeant, to the person who made these footprints, he asked. By way of reply, the sergeant opened his carpet bag and extracting therefrom a pair of smart but stoutly-made shoes laid them on the table. Those shoes, he said, are the property of the accused. He was wearing them when I arrested him. They appear to correspond exactly to the footprints of the murderer. The measurements are the same, and the nails with which they are studied are arranged in a similar pattern. Extreme length, 11 and three-quarter inches. Width at A, four and a half inches. Length of heel, three and a quarter inches. Width of heel at cross, three inches. Would you swear that the footprints were made these shoes, asked the coroner? No, sir, I would not, was the decided answer. I would only swear to the similarity of size and pattern. Had you ever seen these shoes before you made the drawing? No, sir, replied the sergeant, and he then related the incident of the footprints in the soft earth by the pond, which led him to make the arrest. The coroner gazed reflectively at the shoes which he held in his hand, and from them to the drawing, then passing them to the foreman of the jury, he remarked. Well, gentlemen, it is not for me to tell you whether these shoes answer to the description given by Dr. Burrows and the sergeant, or whether they resemble the drawing which, as you have heard, was made by the officer on the spot and before he had seen the shoes. That is a matter for you to decide. Meanwhile, there is another question that we must consider. He turned to the sergeant and asked, have you made any inquiries as to the movements of the accused on the night of the murder? I have, replied the sergeant, and I find that on that night the accused was alone in the house, his housekeeper having gone over to Eastwich. Two men saw him in the town about 10 o'clock, apparently walking in the direction of Sundersley. This concluded the sergeant's evidence, and when one or two more witnesses had been examined without eliciting any fresh facts, the coroner briefly recapitulated the evidence and requested the jury to consider their verdict. Thereupon a solemn hush fell upon the court, broken only by the whispers of the jury men as they consulted together, and the spectators gazed in awed expectancy from the accused to the whispering jury. I glanced at Draper sitting huddled in his chair, his clammy face as pale as that of the corpse in the mulch-wary hard by, his hands tremulous and restless, and scoundrel as I believed him to be, I could not but pity the abject misery that was written large all over him, from his damp hair to his incessantly shifting feet. The jury took but a short time to consider their verdict. At the end of five minutes, the foreman announced that they were agreed, and in answer to the coroner's formal inquiry, stood up and replied, we find that the deceased met his death by being stabbed in the chest by the accused man Alfred Draper. That is a verdict of willful murder, said the coroner, and he entered it accordingly in his notes. The court now rose, the spectators reluctantly trooped out, the jury men stood up and stretched themselves, and the two constables under the guidance of the sergeant carried the wretched Draper in a fainting condition to a closed fly that was waiting outside. I was not greatly impressed by the activity of the defence, I remarked maliciously as we walked home. Thorndike smiled. You surely did not expect me to cast my pearls of forensic learning before a coroner's jury, said he. I expected that you would have something to say on behalf of your client, I replied, as it was his accusers had it all their own way. And why not, he asked, of what concern to us is the verdict of the coroner's jury. It would have seemed more decent to make some sort of defence, I replied. My dear Jervis, he rejoined, you do not seem to appreciate the great virtue of what Lord Beaconsfield so felicitously called a policy of masterly inactivity, and yet that is one of the great lessons that a medical training impresses on the student. That may be so, said I, but the result up to the present of your masterly policy is that a verdict of willful murder stands against your client, and I don't see what other verdict the jury could have found. Neither do I, said Thorndike. I had written to my principal, Dr. Cooper, describing the stirring events that were taking place in the village, and had received a reply from him, instructing me to place the house at Dr. Thorndike's disposal, and to give him every facility for his work. In accordance with which edict, my colleague took possession of a well-lighted, disused stable loft, and announced his intention of moving his things into it. Now, as these things included the mysterious contents of the hamper that the housemaid had seen, I was possessed with a consuming desire to be present at the flitting, and I do not mind confessing that I purposefully lurked about the stairs in the hopes of thus picking up a few crumbs of information. But Thorndike was one too many for me, a misbegotten infant in the village having been seized with inopportune convulsions. I was compelled, most reluctantly, to hasten to its relief, and I returned, only in time to find Thorndike in the act of locking the door of the loft. A nice light roomy place to work in, he remarked, as he descended the steps, slipping the key into his pocket. Yes, I replied, and added boldly, what do you intend to do up there? Work up the case for the defence, he replied, and, as I have now heard all that the prosecution have to say, I shall be able to forge ahead. That was vague enough, but I consoled myself with the reflection that in a very few days I should, in common with the rest of the world, be in possession of the results of his mysterious proceedings. For in view of the approaching assizes, preparations were being made to push the case through the magistrates' court as quickly as possible in order to obtain a committal in time for the ensuing sessions. Draper had, of course, been already charged before a justice of the peace and evidence of arrest taken, and it was expected that the adjourned hearing would commence before the local magistrates on the fifth day after the inquest. The events of these five days kept me in a positive ferment of curiosity. In the first place, an inspector of the Criminal Investigation Department came down and browsed about the place in company with the sergeant. Then Mr. Bashfield, who was to conduct the prosecution, came and took up his abode at the cat and chicken. But the most surprising visitor was Thorndyke's laboratory assistant, Poulton, who appeared one evening with a large trunk and a sailor's hammock, and announced that he was going to take up his quarters in the loft. As to Thorndyke himself, his proceedings were beyond speculation. From time to time he made mysterious appearances at the windows of the loft, usually arrayed in what looks suspiciously like a night-shirt. Sometimes I would see him holding a negative up to the light at others manipulating a photographic printing frame. And once I observed him with a paintbrush and a large galley-pot on which I turned away in despair and nearly collided with the inspector. Dr. Thorndyke is staying with you, I hear, said the latter, gazing earnestly at my colleague's back, which was presented for his inspection at the window. Yes, I answered. Those are his temporary premises. That is where he does his bedevilments, I suppose, as the officer suggested. He conducts his experiments there, I corrected, haughtily. That's what I mean, said the inspector. And as Thorndyke at this moment turned and opened the window, our visitor began to ascend the steps. I've just called to ask if I could have a few words with you, doctor, said the inspector, as he reached the door. Certainly, Thorndyke replied blandly. If you will go down and wait with Dr. Gervis, I will be with you in five minutes. The officer came down the steps grinning and I thought I heard him murmur, sold, but this may have been an illusion. However, Thorndyke presently emerged and he and the officer strode away into the shrubbery. What the inspector's business was or whether he had any business at all, I never learned, but the incident seemed to throw some light on the presence of Poulton and the sailor's hammock. And this reference to Poulton reminds me of a very singular change that took place about this time in the habits of this usually-stayed and sedate little man who, abandoning the somewhat clerical style of dress that he ordinarily affected, broke out into a semi-nautical costume in which he would sally forth every morning in the direction of Port Marston. And there, on more than one occasion, I saw him leaning against a post by the harbour or lounging outside a waterside tavern in earnest and amicable conversation with sundry, nautical characters. On the afternoon of the day before the opening of the proceedings, we had two new visitors. One of them, a grey-haired, spectacle man, was a stranger to me and for some reason I failed to recall his name. He coplanded, though I was sure I had heard it before. The other was Ansty, the barrister who usually worked with Thorndike in cases that went into court. I saw very little of either of them, however, for they retired almost immediately to the loft, where, with short intervals for meals, they remained for the rest of the day and I believe far into the night. Thorndike requested me not to mention the names of his visitors to anyone and at the same time, apologised for the secrecy of his proceedings. But you are a doctor, Jervis, he concluded, and you know what professional confidences are and you will understand how greatly it is in our favour that we know exactly what the prosecution can do while they are absolutely in the dark as to our line of defence. I assured him that I fully understood his position and with this assurance he retired, evidently relieved to the council chamber. The proceedings which opened on the following day and at which I was present throughout need not be described in detail. The evidence for the prosecution was, of course, mainly a repetition of that given at the inquest. Mr. Bashfield's opening statement, however, I shall give at length in as much as it summarised very clearly the whole of the case against the prisoner. The case that is now before the court, said the council, involves the charge of willful murder against the prisoner Alfred Draper and the facts insofar as they are known are briefly these. On the night of Monday, the 27th of September, the deceased, Charles Hearn, died with some friends on board the yacht, Otter. About midnight he came ashore and proceeded to walk towards Sundersley along the beach. As he entered St. Bridget's Bay, a man who appears to have been lying in wait and who came down the shepherd's path, met him and a deadly struggle seems to have taken place. The deceased received a wound of a kind calculated to cause almost instantaneous death and apparently fell down dead. And now, what was the motive of this terrible crime? It was not robbery, for nothing appears to have been taken from the corpse. Money and valuables were found as far as is known intact. Nor clearly was it a case of a casual affray. We are consequently driven to the conclusion that the motive was a personal one, a motive of interest or revenge. And with this view, the time, the place and the evident deliberateness of the murder are in full agreement. So much for the motive. The next question is who was the perpetrator of this shocking crime? And the answer to that question is given in a very singular and dramatic circumstance. A circumstance that illustrates once more the amazing lack of precaution shown by persons who commit such crimes. The murderer was wearing a very remarkable pair of shoes and those shoes left very remarkable footprints in the smooth sand and those footprints were seen and examined by a very acute and painstaking police officer, Sergeant Payne. Whose evidence you will hear presently? The Sergeant not only examined the footprints, he made careful drawings of them on the spot. On the spot, mind you, not from memory and he made very exact measurements of them which he duly noted down. And from those drawings and those measurements those tell-tale shoes have been identified and are here for your inspection. And now, who is the owner of those very singular, those almost unique shoes? I have said that the motive of this murder must have been a personal one and behold, the owner of those shoes happens to be the one person in the whole of this district who could have had a motive for compassing the murdered man's death. Those shoes belong to and were taken from the foot of the prisoner, Alfred Draper. And the prisoner, Alfred Draper, is the only person living in this neighborhood who was acquainted with the deceased. It has been stated in evidence at the inquest that the relations of these two men, the prisoner and the deceased, were entirely friendly. But I shall prove to you that they were not so friendly as has been supposed. I shall prove to you by the evidence of the prisoner's housekeeper that the deceased was often an unwelcome visitor at the house, that the prisoner often denied himself when he was really at home and disengaged and, in short, that he appeared constantly to shun and avoid the deceased. One more question, and I have finished. Where was the prisoner on the night of the murder? The answer is that he was in a house little more than half a mile from the scene of the crime and who was with him in that house? Who was there to observe and testify to his going forth and his coming home? No one. He was alone in the house. On that night of all nights he was alone. Not a soul was there to rouse at the creak of a door or the tread of a shoe to tell us whether he slept or whether he stole forth in the dead of the night. Such are the facts of this case. I believe that they are not disputed and I assert that taken together they are susceptible of only one explanation which is that the prisoner Alfred Draper is the man who murdered the deceased, Charles Hearn. Immediately on the conclusion of this address the witnesses were called and the evidence given was identical with that at the inquest. The only new witness for the prosecution was Draper's housekeeper and her evidence fully bore out Mr. Bashfield's statement. The sergeant's account of the footprints was listened to with breathless interest and at its conclusion the presiding magistrate a retired solicitor, once well known in criminal practice put a question which interested me as showing how clearly Thorndike had foreseen the course of events, recalling as it did his remark on the night when we were caught in the rain. Did you, the magistrate asked, take these shoes down to the beach and compare them with the actual footprints? I obtained the shoes at night, replied the sergeant and I took them down to the shore at daybreak the next morning but unfortunately there had been a storm in the night and the footprints were almost obliterated by the wind and rain. When the sergeant had stepped down Mr. Bashfield announced that that was the case for the prosecution. He then resumed his seat turning an inquisitive eye on Ansty and Thorndike. The former immediately rose and opened the case for the defense with a brief statement. The learned counsel for the prosecution said he has told us that the facts now in the possession of the court admit of but one explanation that of the guilt of the accused that may or may not be but I shall now proceed to lay before the court certain fresh facts, I may say, of the most singular and startling character which will, I think, lead to a very different conclusion. I shall say no more but call the witnesses forthwith and let the evidence speak for itself. The first witness for the defense was Thorndike and as he entered the box I observed Poulton take up a position close behind him with a large wicker trunk. Having been sworn and requested by Ansty to tell the court what he knew about the case he commenced without preamble. About half-past four in the afternoon of the twenty-eighth of September I walked down Sundersley Gap with Dr. Gervis. 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 a sergeant Payne and Dr. Burroughs 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 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 Thorndike, 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 an 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 Thorndike, 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 frequency in those of the deceased. Moreover, when the body was removed I observed that the footprints in the sand on which it was lying were exclusively those of the deceased. There was not a sign of any nail-marked footprint under the corpse, although there were many close round it. It was evident therefore that the footprints of the deceased were made first and those of the nailed shoes afterwards. As Thorndike paused the magistrate rubbed his nose thoughtfully and the inspector gazed at the witness with a puzzled frown. The singularity of this fact, my colleague resumed, made me look at the footprints yet more critically and then I made another discovery. There was a double track of the nailed shoes leading apparently from and back to the shepherd's path but on examining these tracks more closely I was astonished to find that the man who had made them had been walking backwards that in fact he had walked backwards from the body to the shepherd's path, had ascended it for a short distance, had turned round and returned still walking backwards to the face of the cliff near the corpse and there the tracks vanished altogether. On the sand at this spot were some small inconspicuous marks which might have been made by the end of a rope and there were also a few small fragments which had fallen from the cliff above. Observing these I examined the surface of the cliff and at one spot about six feet above the beach I found a freshly rubbed spot on which were parallel scratches such as might have been made by the nailed sole of a boot. I then ascended the shepherd's path and examined the cliff from above and here I found on the extreme edge a rather deep indentation such as would be made by a taut rope and on lying down and looking over I could see some five feet from the top, another rubbed spot with very distinct parallel scratches. You appear to infer, said the chairman, that this man performed these astonishing evolutions and was then hauled up the cliff. That is what the appearances suggest, replied Thorndike. The chairman pursed his lips, raised his eyebrows and glanced doubtfully at his brother magistrates. Then with a resigned air he bowed to the witness to indicate that he was listening. That same night, Thorndike resumed, I cycled down to the shore through the gap with a supply of plaster of Paris and proceeded to take plaster molds of the more important of the footprints. Here the magistrates, the inspector and Mr. Bashfield with one accord, sat up at attention. Sergeant Payne swore quite audibly and I experienced a sudden illumination respecting a certain basin and kitchen spoon which had so puzzled me on the night of Thorndike's arrival. As I thought that liquid plaster might confuse or even obliterate the prints in sand, I filled up the respective footprints with dry plaster, pressed it down lightly and then cautiously poured water onto it. The molds which are excellent impressions of course show the appearance of the boots which made the footprints and from these molds I have prepared casts which reproduce the footprints themselves. The first mold that I made was that of one of the tracks from the boat up to the gap and of this I shall speak presently. I next made a mold of one of the footprints which have been described as those of the deceased have been described, exclaimed the chairman. The deceased was certainly there and there were no other footprints so if they were not his he must have flown to where he was found. I will call them the footprints of the deceased replied Thorndike imperturbably. I took a mold of one of them and with it on the same mold one of my own footprints. Here is the mold and here is a cast from it. He turned and took them from the triumphant poltan who had tenderly lifted them out of the trunk in readiness. On looking at the cast it will be seen that the appearances are not such as would be expected. The deceased was five feet nine inches high but was very thin and light weighing only nine stone six pounds as I ascertained by weighing the body whereas I am five feet 11 and weigh nearly 13 stone but yet the footprint of the deceased is nearly twice as deep as mine. That is to say the lighter man had sunk into the sand nearly twice as deeply as the heavier man. The magistrates were now deeply attentive. They were no longer simply listening to the despised utterances of a mere scientific expert. The cast lay before them with the two footprints side by side the evidence appealed to their own senses and was proportionately convincing. This is very singular said the chairman but perhaps you can explain the discrepancy. I think I can replied thorn-dike but I should prefer to place all the facts before you first. Undoubtedly that would be better the chairman agreed. Pray, proceed. There was another remarkable peculiarity about these footprints thorn-dike continued and that was their distance apart the length of the stride in fact. I measured the steps carefully from heel to heel and found them only 19 and a half inches but a man of Herne's height would have an ordinary stride of about 36 inches more if he was walking fast. Walking with a stride of 19 and a half inches he would look as if his legs were tied together. I next proceeded to the bay and took two moulds from the footprints of the man with the nail shoes a right and a left. Here is a cast from the mould and it shows very clearly that the man was walking backwards. How does it show that? asked the magistrate. There are several distinctive points for instance the absence of the usual kick-off at the toe the slight drag behind the heel showing the direction in which the foot was lifted and the undisturbed impression of the sole. You have spoken of moulds and casts what is the difference between them? A mould is a direct and therefore reversed impression a cast is the impression of a mould and therefore a facsimile of the object. If I pour liquid plaster on a coin when it sets I have a mould a sunk impression of the coin. If I pour melted wax into the mould I obtain a cast a facsimile of the coin. A footprint is the mould of the foot a mould of the footprint is a cast of the foot and a cast from the mould reproduces the footprint. Thank you said the magistrate then your moulds from these two footprints are really facsimiles of the murderer's shoes and can be compared with these shoes which have been put into evidence. Yes and when we compare them they demonstrate a very important fact. What is that? It is that the prisoner's shoes were not the shoes that made those footprints. A buzz of astonishment ran through the court but Thorndike continued stolidly. The prisoner's shoes were not in my possession so I went on to Barker's pond on the clay margin of which I had seen footprints actually made by the prisoner. I took moulds of those footprints and compared them with these from the sand. There are several important differences which you will see if you compare them. To facilitate the comparison I have made transparent photographs of both sets of moulds to the same scale. Now if we put the photograph of the mould of the prisoner's right shoe over that of the murderer's right shoe and hold the two superposed photographs up to the light we cannot make the two pictures coincide. They are exactly of the same length but the shoes are of different shape. Moreover if we put one of the nails in one photograph over the corresponding nail in the other photograph we cannot make the rest of the nails coincide. But the most conclusive fact of all from which there is no possible escape is that the number of nails in the two shoes is not the same. In the sole of the prisoner's right shoe there are 40 nails. In that of the murderer there are 41. The murderer has one nail too many. There was a deathly silence in the court as the magistrates in Mr. Bashfield poured over the moulds and the prisoner's shoes and examined the photographs against the light. Then the chairman asked, are these all the facts or have you something more to tell us? He was evidently anxious to get the key to this riddle. There is more evidence your worship, said Anstey. The witness examined the body of deceased. Then turning to Thorndike he asked, you were present at the post-mortem examination? I was. Did you form any opinion as to the cause of death? Yes, I came to the conclusion that death was occasioned by an overdose of morphia. A universal gasp of amazement greeted this statement. Then the presiding magistrate protested breathlessly. But there was a wound which we have been told was capable of causing instantaneous death. Was that not the case? There was undoubtedly such a wound, replied Thorndike. But when that wound was inflicted, the deceased had already been dead from a quarter to half an hour. This is incredible, exclaimed the magistrate. But no doubt you can give us your reasons for this amazing conclusion. My opinion, said Thorndike, was based on several facts. In the first place a wound inflicted on a living body gapes rather widely, owing to the retraction of the living skin. The skin of a dead body does not retract, and the wound consequently does not gape. This wound gape very slightly, showing that death was recent, I should say, within half an hour. Then a wound on the living body becomes filled with blood, and blood is shed freely on the clothing. But the wound on the deceased contained only a little blood clot. There was hardly any blood on the clothing, and I had already noticed that there was none on the sand where the body had lain. And you consider this quite conclusive, the magistrate asked doubtfully. I do, answered Thorndike, but there was other evidence which was beyond all question. The weapon had partially divided both the aorta and the pulmonary artery, the main arteries of the body. Now during life these great vessels are full of blood at a high internal pressure, whereas after death they become almost empty. It follows that if this wound had been inflicted during life, the cavity in which those vessels lie would have become filled with blood. As a matter of fact, it contained practically no blood, only the merest oozing from some small veins, so that it is certain that the wound was inflicted after death. The presence and nature of the poison I ascertained by analyzing certain secretions from the body and the analysis enabled me to judge that the quantity of the poison was large, but the contents of the stomach were sent to Professor Copeland for more exact examination. Is the result of Professor Copeland's analysis known? The magistrate asked Ansty. The professor is here, your worship, replied Ansty, and is prepared to swear to having obtained over one grain of morphia from the contents of the stomach, and as this, which is in itself a poisonous dose, is only the unabsorbed residue of what was actually swallowed, the total quantity taken must have been very large indeed. Thank you, said the magistrate, and now, Dr. Thorndike, if you have given us all the facts, perhaps you will tell us what conclusions you have drawn from them. The facts which I have stated, said Thorndike, appear to me to indicate the following sequence of events. The deceased died about midnight on September 27th from the effects of a poisonous dose of morphia, how or by whom administered I offered no opinion. I think that his body was conveyed in a boat to Sundersley Gap. The boat probably contained three men of whom one remained in charge of it. One walked up the gap and along the cliff towards St. Bridget's Bay, and the third, having put on the shoes of the deceased, carried the body along the shore to the bay. This would account for the great depth and short stride of the tracks that have been spoken of as those of the deceased. Having reached the bay, I believe that this man laid the corpse down on his tracks and then trampled the sand in the neighborhood. He next took off deceased's shoes and put them on the corpse, then he put on a pair of boots or shoes which he had been carrying, perhaps hung round his neck, and which had been prepared with nails to imitate draper's shoes. In these shoes he again trampled over the area near the corpse, then he walked backwards to the shepherd's path, and from it again, still backwards to the face of the cliff. Here his accomplice had lowered a rope by which he climbed up to the top. At the top he took off the nails shoes and the two men walked back to the gap where the man who had carried the rope took his confederate on his back and carried him down to the boat to avoid leaving the tracks of stocking feet. The tracks that I saw at the gap certainly indicated that the man was carrying something very heavy when he returned to the boat. But why should the man have climbed a rope up the cliff when he could have walked up the shepherd's path? The magistrate asked. Because, replied Thorndike, there would then have been a set of tracks leading out of the bay without a corresponding set leading into it, and this would have instantly suggested to a smart police officer, such as Sergeant Payne, a landing from a boat. Your explanation is highly ingenious, said the magistrate, and appears to cover all the very remarkable facts. Have you anything more to tell us? No, your worship was the reply, accepting. Here he took from Poulton the last pair of moulds and passed them up to the magistrate, that you will probably find these moulds of importance presently. As Thorndike stepped from the box, for there was no cross-examination, the magistrates scrutinized the moulds with an air of perplexity, but they were too discreet to make any remark. When the evidence of Professor Copland, which showed that an unquestionably lethal dose of morphia must have been swallowed, had been taken, the clerk called out the, to me, unfamiliar name of Jacob Gummer. There upon an enormous pair of brown dreadnought trousers, from the upper end of which a smack boy's head and shoulders protruded, walked into the witness box. Jacob admitted at the outset that he was a smack master's apprentice, and that he had been hired out by his master to one Mr. Jezzard as a deck hand and cabin boy of the yacht, Otter. Now, Gummer, said Ansty, do you remember the prisoner coming on board the yacht? Yes, he has been on board twice. The first time was about a month ago. He went for a sail with us then. The second time was on the night when Mr. Hearn was murdered. Do you remember what sort of boots the prisoner was wearing the first time he came? Yes, they were shoes with a lot of nails in the soles. I remember them because Mr. Jezzard made him take them off and put on a canvas pair. What was done with the nailed shoes? Mr. Jezzard took them below to the cabin. And did Mr. Jezzard come up on deck again directly? No, he stayed down in the cabin about 10 minutes. Do you remember a parcel being delivered on board from a London bootmaker? Yes, the postman brought it about four or five days after Mr. Draper had been on board. It was labelled Walker Brothers, Boot and Shoemaker's London. Mr. Jezzard took a pair of shoes from it for I saw them on the locker in the cabin the same day. Did you ever see him wear them? No, I never see him again. Have you ever heard sounds of hammering on the yacht? Yes, the night after the parcel came I was on the keel alongside and I heard someone hammering in the cabin. What did the hammering sound like? It sounded like a cobbler or hammering in nails. Have you ever seen any bootnails on the yacht? Yes, when I was clearing up the cabin the next morning I found a hobnail on the floor in a corner by the locker. Were you on board on the night when Mr. Hearn died? Yes, I've been ashore but I came aboard about half past nine. Did you see Mr. Hearn go ashore? I see him leave the yacht. I had turned into my bunk and gone to sleep where Mr. Jezzard calls down to me. We're putting Mr. Hearn ashore, says he, and then he says, we're going for an hour's fishing. You needn't sit up, he says, and with that he shuts the scuttle. Then I got up and slipped back the scuttle and put my head out and I see Mr. Jezzard and Mr. Leach are helping Mr. Hearn across the deck. Mr. Hearn, he looked as if he was drunk. They got him into the boat and a rare job they had and Mr. Pitford, what was in the boat already, he pushed off and then I popped my head in again because I didn't want them to see me. Did they row to the steps? No, I put my head out again when they were gone and I heard them row round the yacht and then pull out towards the mouth of the arbor. I couldn't see the boat because it was a very dark night. Very well. Now I am going to ask you about another matter. Do you know anyone of the name of Poulton? Yes, replied Gummer, turning a dusky red. I've just found out his real name. I thought he was called Simmons. Tell us what you know about him, said Ansty, with a mischievous smile. Well, said the boy with a ferocious scowl at the bland and smiling Poulton. One day he came down to the yacht when the gentlemen had gone ashore. I believe he'd seen him go and he offers me ten shillings to let him see all the boots and shoes we got on board. I didn't see no arm so I turns out the old lot in the cabin for him to look at. While he was looking at him he asked me to fetch a pair of mine from the folks also I fetched them. When I come back he was pitching the boots and shoes back into the locker. Then presently he nips off and when he was gone I looked over the shoes and then I found there was a pair missing. There was an old pair of Mr. Jezzards and what made him nicker is more than I can understand. Would you know those shoes if you saw them? Yes, I should, replied the lad. Are these the pair? Ansty handed the boy a pair of dilapidated canvas shoes which he seized eagerly. Yeah, these is the ones what he stole, he exclaimed. Ansty took them back from the boy's reluctant hands and passed them up to the magistrate's desk. I think, said he, that if your worship will compare these shoes with the last pair of moles you will have no doubt that these are the shoes which made the footprints from the sea to sundersly gap and back again. The magistrates together compared the shoes and the moulds amidst a breathless silence. At length the chairman laid them down on the desk. It is impossible to doubt it, said he. The broken heel and the tear in the rubber sole with the remains of the checkered pattern make the identity practically certain. As the chairman made this statement I involuntarily glanced round to the place where Jezzard was sitting but he was not there. Neither he nor Pitford nor Leech. Taking advantage of the preoccupation of the court they had quietly slipped out of the door but I was not the only person who had noted their absence. The inspector and the sergeant were already in earnest consultation and a minute later they too hurriedly departed. The proceedings now speedily came to an end. After a brief discussion with his brother magistrates the chairman addressed the court. The remarkable and I may say startling evidence which has been heard in this court today if it has not fixed the guilt of this crime on any individual has at any rate made it clear to our satisfaction that the prisoner is not the guilty person and he is accordingly discharged. Mr. Draper I have great pleasure in informing you that you are at liberty to leave the court and that you do so entirely clear of all suspicion and I congratulate you very heartily on the skill and ingenuity of your legal advisors but for which the decision of the court would I am afraid have been very different. That evening lawyers, witnesses and the jubilant and grateful client gathered round a truly festive board to dine and fight over again the battle of the day but we were scarcely halfway through our meal when to the indignation of the servants Sergeant Payne burst breathlessly into the room. They've gone sir he exclaimed addressing Thondike they've given us the slip for good. Why how can that be asked Thondike they're dead sir all three of them. Dead we all exclaimed yes they made a burst for the yacht when they left the court and they got on board and put out to see it once hoping no doubt to get clear as the light was just failing but they were in such a hurry that they did not see a steam trawler that was entering and was hidden by the pier. Then just at the entrance as the yacht was creeping out the trawler hit her amidships and fairly cut her in two the three men were in the water in an instant and were swept away in the eddy behind the north pier and before any boat could put out to them they had all gone under. Jezzard's body came up on the beach just as I was coming away. We were all silent and a little awed but if any of us felt regret at the catastrophe it was at the thought that three such cold blooded villains should have made so easy an exit and to one of us at least. The news came as a blessed relief. End of the man with the nailed shoes part two. Chapter two of John Thorndyke's cases by R. Austin Freeman. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter two, The Stranger's latchkey. The contrariety of human nature is a subject that has given a surprising amount of occupation to makers of proverbs and to those moral philosophers who make it their province to discover and expound the glaringly obvious and especially have they been concerned to enlarge upon that form of perverseness which engenders dislike of things offered under compulsion and arouses desire of them as soon as their attainment becomes difficult or impossible. They assure us that a man who has had a given thing within his reach and put it by will as soon as it is beyond his reach find it the one thing necessary and desirable even as the domestic cat which has turned disdainfully from the preferred saucer may presently be seen with her head jammed hard in the milk jug or secretly and with horrible relish slaking her thirst to the scullery sink. To this peculiarity of the human mind was do no doubt the fact that no sooner had I abandoned the clinical side of my profession in favor of the legal and taken up my abode in the chambers of my friend Thorndike the famous medical legal expert to act as his assistant or junior than my former mode of life that of a locum tenons or minder of other men's practices which had when I was following it seemed intolerably irksome now appeared to possess many desirable features and I found myself occasionally hankering to sit once more by the bedside to puzzle out the perplexing train of symptoms and to wield that power the greatest after all possessed by man the power to banish suffering and ward off the approach of death itself hence it was that on a certain morning of a long vacation I found myself installed at the larches burling in full charge of the practice of my old friend Dr. Hanshaw who was taking a fishing holiday in Norway I was not left desolate however for Mrs. Hanshaw remained at her post and the roomy old-fashioned house accommodated three visitors in addition one of these was Dr. Hanshaw's sister and Mrs. Haldine the widow of a wealthy Manchester cotton factor the second was her niece by marriage Miss Lucy Haldine a very handsome and charming girl of 23 while the third was no less a person than Master Fred the only child of Mrs. Haldine and a strapping boy of six it is quite like old times and very pleasant old times too to see you sitting at our breakfast table Dr. Gervis with these gracious words and a friendly smile Mrs. Hanshaw handed me my teacup I bowed the highest pleasure of the altruist I replied is in contemplating the good fortune of others Mrs. Haldine laughed thank you she said you are quite unchanged I perceive still as suave and as shall I say oleaginous no please don't exclaimed in a tone of alarm then I won't but what does Dr. Thorndike say to this back sliding on your part how does he regard this relapse from medical jurisprudence to common general practice Thorndike said I is unmoved by any catastrophe and he not only regards the decline and fall off the medical jurist with philosophic calm but he even favours the relapse as you call it he thinks it may be useful to me to study the application of medical legal methods to general practice that sounds rather unpleasant for the patients I mean remarked Miss Haldine very agreed her aunt most cold-blooded what sort of man is Dr. Thorndike I feel quite curious about him is he at all human for instance he is entirely human I replied the accepted tests of humanity being as I understand the habitual adoption of the erect posture in locomotion and the relative position of the end of the thumb I don't mean that interrupted Mrs. Haldine I mean human in things that matter I think those things matter I rejoined consider Mrs. Haldine what would happen if my learned colleague were to be seen in wig and gown walking towards the law courts in any posture other than the erect it would be a public scandal don't talk to him Mabel said Mrs. Hanshaw he is incorrigible what are you doing with yourself this morning Lucy Miss Haldine who had hastily set down her cup to laugh at my imaginary picture of Dr. Thorndike in the character of a quadrupede considered a moment I think I shall sketch that group of birches at the edge of Bradham Wood she said then in that case said I I can carry your traps for you for I have to see a patient in Bradham he is making the most of his time remarked Mrs. Haldine maliciously to my hostess he knows that when Mr. Winter arrives he will retire into the extreme background Douglas Winter whose arrival was expected in the course of the week was Miss Haldine's fiancé their engagement had been somewhat protracted and was likely to be more so unless one of them received some unexpected accession of means for Douglas was a subaltern in the royal engineers living with great difficulty on his pay while Lucy Haldine subsisted on an almost invisible allowance left her by an uncle I was about to reply to Mrs. Haldine when a patient was announced and as I had finished my breakfast I made my excuses and left the table half an hour later when I started along the road to the village of Bradham I had two companions master Freddy had joined the party and he disputed with me the privilege of carrying the traps with the results that a compromise was effected by which he carried the campstool leaving me in possession of the easel the bag and a large bound sketching block where are you going to work this morning I asked when we had trudged on some distance just off the road to the left there at the edge of the wood not very far from the house of the mysterious stranger she glanced at me mischievously as she made this reply and chuckled with delight when I rose at the bait what house do you mean I inquired ha she exclaimed the investigator of mysteries is aroused he saith ha ha amidst the trumpets he smelleth the battle afar off explain instantly I commanded or I drop your sketch block into the very next puddle you terrify me said she but I will explain only there isn't any mystery except to the bucolic mind the house is called lavender cottage and it stands alone in the fields behind the wood a thought night ago it was let furnished to a stranger named whitelock who has taken it for the purpose of studying the botany of the district and the only really mysterious thing about him is that no one has seen him all arrangements with the house agent were made by letter and as far as I can make out none of the local trades people supply him so he must get his things from a distance even his bread which really is rather odd now say I am an inquisitive gossiping country bumpkin I was going to I answered but it is no use now she relieved me of her sketching appliances with pretended indignation and crossed into the meadow leaving me to pursue my way alone and when I presently look back she was setting up her easel and stool gravely assisted by freddy my round though not a long one took up more time than I had anticipated and it was already past the luncheon hour when I passed the place where I had left miss holdy she was gone as I had expected and I hurried homewards anxious to be as nearly punctual as possible when I entered the dining room I found mrs. holdy and our hostess seated at the table and both looked up at me expectantly have you seen Lucy the former inquired no I answered hasn't she come back I expected to find her here she had left the wood when I passed just now mrs. holdy knitted her brows anxiously it is very strange she said and very thoughtless of her freddy will be famished I hurried over my lunch for two fresh messages had come in from outlying hamlets effectually dispelling my visions of a quiet afternoon and as the minutes passed without bringing any signs of the absentees mrs. holdy became more and more restless and anxious at length her suspense became unbearable she rose suddenly announcing her intention of cycling up the road to look for the defaulters but as she was moving towards the door it burst open and Lucy Haldine staggered into the room her appearance filled us with alarm she was deadly pale breathless and wild eyed her dress was draggled and torn and she trembled from head to foot good god lucy gasp mrs. holdy what has happened and where is freddy she added in a stern at home he is lost replied mrs. Haldine in a faint voice and with a catch in her breath he strayed away while I was painting I have searched the wood through and called to him and looked in all the meadows oh where can he have gone her sketching kit with which she was loaded slipped from her grasp and rattled onto the floor and she buried her face in her hands and sobbed hysterically and you have dared to come back without him exclaimed mrs. holdy I was getting exhausted I came back for help was the faint reply of course she was exhausted said mrs. handshore come lucy come mabel don't make mountains out of molehills the little man is safe enough we shall find him presently or he will come home by himself come and have some food lucy mrs. holdy shook her head I can't mrs. handshore really I can't she said and seeing that she was in a state of utter exhaustion I poured out a glass of wine and made her drink it mrs. holdy darted from the room and returned immediately putting on her hat you have got to come with me and show me where you lost him she said she can't do that you know I said rather brusquely she will have to lie down for the present but I know the place and we'll cycle up with you very well replied mrs. holdy that will do what time was it she asked turning to her niece when you lost the child and which way she paused abruptly and I looked at her in surprise she had suddenly turned ashen and ghastly her face had set like a mask of stone with parted lips and staring eyes that were fixed in horror on her niece there was a deathly silence for a few seconds then in a terrible voice she demanded what is that on your dress lucy and after a pause her voice rose into a shriek what have you done to my boy I glanced in astonishment at the dazed and terrified girl and then I saw what her aunt had seen a good-sized blood stain halfway down the front of her skirt and another smaller one on her right sleeve the girl herself looked down at the sinister patch of red and then up to her aunt it looks like like blood she stammered yes it is I think of course it is he struck his nose and it bled come interrupted mrs. holdy let us go and she rushed from the room leaving me to follow I lifted mrs. holdy who was half fainting with fatigue and agitation onto the sofa and whispering a few words of encouragement into her ear turned to mrs. hanshaw I can't stay with mrs. holdy and I said there are two visits to be made at redwood will you send the dog cart up the road with somebody to take my place yes she answered I will send giles or come myself if lucy is fit to be left I ran to the stables for my bicycle and as I pedalled out into the road I could see mrs. holdy already far ahead driving her machine at frantic speed I followed at a rapid pace but it was not until we approached the commencement of the wood when she slowed down somewhat that I overtook her this is the place I said as we reached the spot where I had parted from mrs. holdy we dismounted and wheeled our bicycles through the gate and laying them down beside the hedge crossed the meadow and entered the wood it was a terrible experience and one that I shall never forget the white face distracted woman tramping in her flimsy house shoes over the rough ground bursting through the bushes regardless of the thorny branches that dragged at skin and hair and dainty clothing and sending forth from time to time a tremulous cry so dreadfully pathetic in its mingling of terror and coaxing softness that a lump rose in my throat and I could barely keep myself control freddy freddy boy mummy's here darling the wailing cries sounded through the leafy solitude but no answer came save the whir of wings or the chatter of startled birds but even more shocking than that dreadful cry more disturbing and eloquent with dreadful suggestion was the way in which she peered vertically but with fearful expectation among the roots of the bushes or halted to gaze upon every molehill and hammock every depression or disturbance of the ground so he stumbled on for a while with never a word spoken until we came to a beaten track or footpath leading across the wood here I pause to examine the footprints of which several were visible in the soft earth though none seemed very recent but proceeding a little way down the track I perceived crossing it a set of fresh imprints which I recognized at once as Miss Haldine's she was wearing as I knew a pair of brown golf boots with rubber pads in the leather soles and the prints made by them were unmistakable Miss Haldine crossed the path here I said pointing to the footprints don't speak of her before me exclaimed Mrs. Haldine but she gazed eagerly at the footprints nevertheless and immediately plunged into the wood to follow the tracks you are very unjust to your niece Mrs. Haldine I ventured to protest she halted and faced me with an angry frown you don't understand she exclaimed you don't know perhaps that if my poor child is really dead Lucy Haldine will be a rich woman I may marry tomorrow if she chooses I did not know that I answered but if I had I should have said the same of course you would she retorted bitterly a pretty face can muddle any man's judgment she turned away abruptly to resume her pursuit and I followed in silence the trail which we were following zigzag through the thickest part of the wood but its devious windings eventually brought us out onto an open space on the farther side here we at once perceive traces of another kind a litter of dirty rags pieces of paper scraps of stale bread bones and feathers with hoof marks wheel ruts and the ashes of a large wood fire pointed clearly to a gypsy encampment recently broken up I laid my hand on the heap of ashes and found it still warm and on scattering it with my foot a layer of glowing cinders appeared at the bottom these people have only been gone an hour or two I said it would be well to have them followed without delay a gleam of hope shone on the drawn white face as the bereaved mother caught eagerly at my suggestion yes she exclaimed breathlessly she may have bribed them to take him away let us see which way they went we followed the wheel tracks down to the road and found that they turned towards London at the same time I perceived the dog cart in the distance with mrs. Hanshaw standing beside it and as the coachman observed me he whipped up his horse and approached I shall have to go I said but mrs. Hanshaw will help you to continue the search and you will make inquiries about the gypsies won't you she said I promised to do so and as the dog cart now came up I climbed to the seat and drove off briskly up the London road the extent of a country doctor's round is always an unknown quantity on the present occasion I picked up three additional patients and as one of them was a case of incipient pleurisy which required to have the chest strapped and another was a neglected dislocation of the shoulder a great deal of time was taken up moreover the gypsies whom I ran to earth on Rebworth Common delayed me considerably though I had to leave the rural constable to carry out the actual search and as a result the clock of burling church was striking six as I drove through the village on my way home I got down at the front gate leaving the coachman to take the dog cart round and walked up the drive and my astonishment may be imagined when on turning the corner I came suddenly upon the inspector of the local police in earnest conversation with no lesser person than John Thorndike what on earth has brought you here I exclaimed my surprise getting the better of my manners the ultimate motive force he replied was an impulsive lady named mrs Haldine she telegraphed for me in your name she ought to have done that I said perhaps not but the ethics of an agitated woman are not worth discussing and she has done something much worse she has applied to the local J.P a retired major general and our gallant and unlearned friend has issued a warrant for the arrest of Lucy Haldine on the charge of murder but there has been no murder I exclaimed that said Thorndike is a legal subtlety that he does not appreciate he has learned his law in the orderly room where the qualifications to practice are an irritable temper and a loud voice however the practical point is inspector that the warrant is irregular you can't arrest people for hypothetical crimes the officer drew a deep breath of relief he knew all about the irregularity and now joyfully took refuge behind Thorndike's great reputation when he had departed with a brief note from my colleague to the general Thorndike slipped his arm through mine and we strolled towards the house this is a grim business Jervis said he that boy has got to be found for everybody's sake can you come with me when you have had some food of course I can I have been saving myself all the afternoon with a view to continuing the search good said Thorndike then come in and feed a nondescript meal half tea and half dinner was already prepared and mrs handshore grave but self-possessed presided at the table Mabel is still out with Giles searching for the boy she said you have heard what she has done I nodded it was dreadful of her continued mrs handshore but she is half mad poor thing you might run up and say a few kind words to poor Lucy while I make the tea I went up at once and knocked at Miss Haldeen's door and being bidden to enter found her lying on the sofa red-eyed and pale the very ghost of the merry laughing girl who had gone out with me in the morning I drew up a chair and sat down by her side and as I took the hand she held out to me she said it is good of you to come and see a miserable wretch like me and Jane has been so sweet to me Dr. Jervis but Aunt Mabel thinks I have killed Freddy you know she does and it was really my fault that he was lost I shall never forgive myself she burst into a passion of sobbing and I proceeded to chide her gently you are a silly little woman I said to take this nonsense to heart as you are doing your aunt is not responsible just now as you must know but when we bring the boy home she shall make you a handsome apology I will see to that she pressed my hand gratefully and as the bell now rang for tea I bade her have courage and went downstairs you need not trouble about the practice said Mrs. Hanshaw as I concluded my lightning repast and Thorndike went off to get our bicycles Dr. Simmons has heard of our trouble and has called to say that he will take anything that turns up so we shall expect you when we see you how do you like Thorndike I asked he's quite charming she replied enthusiastically so tactful and kind and so handsome too you didn't tell us that but here he is goodbye and good luck she pressed my hand and I went out into the drive where Thorndike and the coachman were standing with three bicycles I see you have brought your outfit I said as we turned into the road for Thorndike's machine bore a large canvas covered case strapped on to a strong bracket yes there are many things that we may want on a quest of this kind how did you find Miss Haldein very miserable poor girl by the way have you heard anything about her pecuniary interest in the child's death yes said Thorndike it appears that the late Mr. Haldein used up all his brains on his business and had none left for the making of his will as often happens he left almost the whole of his property about 80 000 pounds to his son the widow to have a life interest in it he also left to his late brother's daughter Lucy 50 pounds a year and to his surviving brother Percy who seems to have been a good for nothing a hundred a year for life but and here is the utter folly of the thing if the son should die the property was to be equally divided between the brother and the niece with the exception of 500 a year for life to the widow it was an insane arrangement quite I agreed and a very dangerous one for Lucy Haldein as things are at present very especially if anything should have happened to the child what are you going to do now I inquired seeing that Thorndike rode on as if with a definite purpose there is a footpath through the wood he replied I want to examine that and there is a house behind the wood which I should like to see the house of the mysterious stranger I suggested precisely mysterious and solitary strangers invite inquiry we drew up at the entrance to the footpath leaving will it the coachman in charge of the three machines and proceeded up the narrow track as we went Thorndike looked back at the prince of our feet and nodded approvingly this soft loam he remarked yields beautifully clear impressions and yesterday's rain has made it perfect we had not gone far when we perceived a set of footprints which I recognized as did Thorndike also for he remarked Miss Haldein running and alone presently we met them again crossing in the opposite direction together with the prince of small shoes with very high heels mrs. Haldein on the track of her niece was Thorndike's comment and a minute later we encountered them both again accompanied by my own footprints the boy does not seem to have crossed the path at all I remarked as we walked on keeping off the track itself to avoid confusing the footprints we shall know when we have examined the whole length replied Thorndike plotting on with his eyes on the ground ha here is something new he added stopping short and stooping down eagerly a man with a thick stick a smallish man rather lame notice the difference between the two feet and the peculiar way in which he uses his stick yes Jervis there is a great deal to interest us in these footprints do you notice anything very suggestive about them nothing but what you have mentioned I replied what do you mean well first there is the very singular character of the prince themselves which we will consider presently you observe that this man came down the path and at this point turned off into the wood then he returned from the wood and went up the path again the imposition of the prince makes that clear but now look at the two sets of prints and compare them do you notice any difference the returning footprints seem more distinct better impressions yes they are noticeably deeper but there is something else he produced a spring tape from his pocket and took half a dozen measurements you see he said the first set of footprints have a stride of 21 inches from heel to heel a short stride but he is a smallish man and lame the returning ones have a stride of only 19 and a half inches hence the returning footprints are deeper than the others and the steps are shorter what do you make of that it would suggest that he was carrying a burden when you returned I replied yes and a heavy one to make that difference in the depth I think I will get you to go and fetch will it and the bicycles I strode off down the path to the entrance and taking possession of thorn dyke's machine with its precious case of instruments bade will it follow with the other two when I returned my colleague was standing with his hands behind him gazing with intense preoccupation at the footprints he looked up sharply as we approached and called out to us to keep off the path if possible stay here with the machine's will it said he you and I Jervis must go and see where our friend went to when he left the path and what was the burden that he picked up we struck off into the wood where last year's dead leaves made the footprints almost indistinguishable and followed the faint double track for a long distance between the dense clumps of bushes suddenly my eye caught beside the double trail a third row of tracks smaller in size and closer together thorn dyke had seen them too and already his measuring tape was in his hand eleven and a half inches to the stride said he that will be the boy Jervis but the light is getting weak we must press on quickly or we shall lose it some fifty yards further on the man's track ceased abruptly but the small ones continued alone and we followed them as rapidly as we could in the fading light there can be no reasonable doubt that these are the child's tracks said thorn dyke but I should like to find a definite footprint to make the identification absolutely certain a few seconds later he halted with an exclamation and stooped on one knee a little heap of fresh earth from the surface burrow of a mole had been thrown up over the dead leaves and fairly planted on it was the clean and sharp impression of a diminutive foot with a rubber heel showing a central star thorn dyke drew from his pocket a tiny shoe and pressed it on the soft earth beside the footprint and when he raised it the second impression was identical with the first the boy had two pairs of shoes exactly alike he said so I borrowed one of the duplicate pair he turned and began to retrace his steps rapidly following our own fresh tracks and stopped only once to point out the place where the unknown man had picked the charred up when we regain the path we proceeded without delay until we emerged from the wood within a hundred yards of the cottage I see mrs. Haldine has been here with Giles remark thorn dyke as he pushed open the garden gate I wonder if they saw anybody he advanced to the door and having first wrapped with his knuckles and then kicked at it vigorously tried the handle locked he observed but I see the key is in the lock so we can get in if we want to let us try the back the back door was locked too but the key had been removed he came out this way evidently said thorn dyke though he went in at the front as I suppose you noticed let us see where he went the back garden was a small fenced patch of ground with an earth path leading down to the back gate a little way beyond the gate was a small barn or outhouse we're in luck thorn dyke remarked with a glance at the path yesterday's rain has cleared away all old footprints and prepared the surface for new ones you see there are three sets of excellent impressions two leading away from the house and one set towards it now you notice that both of the sets leading from the house are characterized by deep impressions and short steps while the set leading to the house has lighter impressions and longer steps the obvious inference is that he went down the path with a heavy burden came back empty handed and went down again and finally with another heavy burden you observe too that he walked with his stick on each occasion by this time we had reached the bottom of the garden opening the gate we followed the tracks towards the outhouse which stood beside a cart track but as we came round the corner we both stopped short and looked at one another on the soft earth with a very distinct impressions of the tires of a motor car leading from the wide door of the outhouse finding that the door was unfastened thorn dyke opened it and looked in to satisfy himself but the place was empty then he fell to studying the tracks the course of events is pretty plain he observed first the fellow brought down his luggage started the engine and got the car out you can see where it stood both by the little pool of oil and by the widening and blurring of the wheel tracks from the vibration of the free engine then he went back and fetched the boy carried him pick-a-back I should say judging by the depth of the toe marks in the last set of footprints that was a tactical mistake he should have taken the boy straight into the shed he pointed as he spoke to one of the footprints beside the wheel tracks from the toe of which projected a small segment of the print of a little rubber heel we now made our way back to the house where we found will it pensively wrapping at the front door with a cycle spanner thorn dyke took a last glance with his hand in his pocket at an open window above and then to the coachman's intense delight brought forth what looked uncommonly like a small bunch of skeleton keys one of these he inserted into the keyhole and as he gave it a turn the lock clicked and the door stood open the little sitting room which we now entered was furnished with the barest necessaries its center was occupied by an oil cloth covered table on which I observed with surprise a dismembered bee clock the works of which had been taken apart with a tin opener that lay beside them and a boxwood bird call all these objects thorn dyke glanced and nodded as though they fitted into some theory that he had formed examined carefully the oil cloth around the litter of wheels and pinions and then proceeded on a tour of inspection round the room peering inquisitively into the kitchen and store cupboard nothing very distinctive or personal here he remarked let us go upstairs there were three bedrooms on the upper floor of which two were evidently disused though the windows were wide open the third bedroom showed manifest traces of occupation though it was as bare as the others for the water still stood in the wash hand basin and the bed was unmade to the latter thorn dyke advanced and having turned back the bed clothes examined the interior attentively especially at the foot and the pillow the latter was soiled not to say grimy though the rest of the bed linen was quite clean hair dye remarked thorn dyke noting my glance at it then he turned and looked out of the open window can you see the place where misholding was sitting to sketch he asked yes I replied there is the place well in view and you can see right up the road I had no idea this house stood so high from the three upper windows you can see all over the country accepting through the wood yes thorn dyke rejoined and he has probably been in the habit of keeping watch up here with a telescope or a pair of field glasses well there is not much of interest in this room he kept his effects in a cabin trunk which stood there under the window he shaved this morning he has a white beard to judge by the stubble on the shaving paper and that is all weight though there is a key hanging on that nail he must have overlooked that for it evidently does not belong to this house it is an ordinary town latch key he took the key down and having laid a sheet of note paper from his pocket on the dressing table produced a pin with which he began carefully to probe the interior of the key barrel presently there came forth with much coaxing a large ball of gray fluff which thorn dyke folded up in the paper with infinite care I suppose we mustn't take away the key he said but I think we will take a wax mold of it he hurried downstairs and unstrapping the case from his bicycle brought it in and placed it on the table as it was now getting dark he detached the powerful acetylene lamp from his machine and having lighted it proceeded to open the mysterious case first he took from it a small insulator or powder blower with which he blew a cloud of light yellow powder over the table around the remains of the clock the powder settled on the table in an even coating but when he blew at it smartly with his breath it cleared off leaving however a number of smeary impressions which stood out in strong yellow against the black oil cloth to one of these impressions he pointed significantly it was the print of a child's hand he next produced a small portable microscope and some glass slides and cover slips and having opened the paper and tipped the ball of fluff from the key barrel onto a slide set to work with a pair of mounted needles to tease it out into its component parts then he turned the light of the lamp onto the microscope mirror and proceeded to examine the specimen a curious and instructive assortment this gerbis he remarked with his eye at the microscope woollen fibres no cotton or linen he is careful of his health to have woollen pockets and two hairs very curious ones too just look at them and observe the root bulbs i applied my eye to the microscope and saw among other things two hairs originally white but encrusted with a black opaque glistening stain the root bulbs i noticed were shriveled and atrophied but how on earth i exclaimed did the hairs get into his pocket i think the hairs themselves answer that question he replied when considered with the other curios the stain is obviously lead sulfide but what else do you see i see some particulars of metal a white metal apparently and a number of fragments of woody fiber and starch granules but i don't recognize the starch it is not wheat starch nor rice nor potato do you make out what it is thorn dyke chuckled experientia does it said he you will have gerbis to study the minute properties of dust and dirt their evidential value is immense let us have another look at that starch it is all alike i suppose it was and thorn dyke had just ascertained the fact when the door burst open and mrs. haldeen entered the room followed by mrs. hanshaw and the police inspector the former lady regarded my colleague with a glance of extreme disfavor we heard that you had come here sir said she and we supposed you were engaged in searching for my poor child but it seems we were mistaken since we find you here amusing yourselves fiddling with these nonsensical instruments perhaps mabel said mrs. hanshaw stiffly it would be wiser and infinitely more polite to ask if dr. thorn dyke has any news for us that is undoubtedly so madame agreed the inspector who had apparently suffered also from mrs. haldeen's impulsiveness then perhaps the latter lady suggested you will inform us if you have discovered anything i will tell you replied thorn dyke all that we know the child was abducted by the man who occupied this house and who appears to have watched him from an upper window probably through a glass this man lured the child into the wood by blowing this bird call he met him in the wood and induced him by some promises no doubt to come back with him he picked the child up and carried him on his back i think up to the house and brought him in through the front door which he locked after him he gave the boy this clock and the bird call to amuse him while he went upstairs and packed his trunk he took the trunk out through the back door and down the garden to the shed there in which he had a motor car he got the car out and came back for the boy whom he carried down to the car locking the back door after him then he drove away you know he has gone cried mrs. haldeen and yet you stay here playing with these ridiculous toys why are you not following him we have just finished ascertaining the facts thorn dyke replied calmly and should by now be on the road if you had not come here the inspector interposed anxiously of course sir you can't give any description of the man you have no clue to his identity i suppose we have only his footprints thorn dyke answered and this fluff which i raked out of the barrel of his latchkey and have just been examining from these data i conclude that he is a rather short and thin man and somewhat lame he walks with the aid of a thick stick which has a knob not a crook at the top and which he carries in his left hand i think that his left leg has been amputated above the knee and that he wears an artificial limb he is elderly he shaves his beard has white hair dyed a grayish black is partly bald and probably combs a whisper of hair over the bald place he takes snuff and carries a leaden comb in his pocket as thorn dyke's description proceeded the inspector's mouth gradually opened wider and wider until he appeared the very type and symbol of astonishment but its effect on mrs. holden was much more remarkable rising from her chair she leaned on the table and stared thorn dyke with an expression of awe even of terror and as he finished she sank back into her chair with her hands clasped and turned to mrs. hanshaw jane she gasped it is Percy my brother-in-law he has described him exactly even to his stick and his pocket comb but i thought he was in chicago if that is so said thorn dyke hastily repacking his case we have better start at once we have the dog cart in the road said mrs. hanshaw thank you replied thorn dyke we will ride on our bicycles and the inspector can borrow willow we go out at the back by the cart track which joins the road further on then we will follow in the dog cart said mrs. holden come jane the two ladies departed down the path while we made ready our bicycles and lit our lamps with your permission inspector said thorn dyke we will take the key with us it's hardly legal sir objected the officer we have no authority it is quite illegal answered thorn dyke but it is necessary and necessity like your military jp knows no law the inspector grinned and went out regarding me with a quivering eyelid as thorn dyke locked the door with his skeleton key as we turned into the road i saw the light of the dog cart behind us and we pushed forward at a swift pace picking up the trail easily on the soft moist road what beats me said the inspector confidentially as we rode along is how he knew the man was bald was it the footprints or the latch key and that comb too that was a regular knockout these points were by now pretty clear to me i had seen the hairs with the atrophied bulbs such as one finds at the margin of a bald patch and the comb was used evidently for the double purpose of keeping the bald patch covered and blackening the sulfur charged hair but the knob stick and the artificial limb puzzled me so completely that i presently overtook thorn dyke to demand an explanation the stick said he is perfectly simple the feral of a knob stick wears evenly all round that of a crook stick wears on one side the side opposite the crook the impression showed that the feral of this one was evenly convex therefore it had no crook the other matter is more complicated to begin with an artificial foot makes a very characteristic impression owing to its purely passive elasticity as i will show you tomorrow but an artificial leg fitted below the knee is quite secure whereas one fitted above the knee that is with an artificial knee joint worked by a spring is much less reliable now this man had an artificial foot and he evidently distrusted his knee joint as is shown by his steadying it with his stick on the same side if he merely had a weak leg he would have used the stick with his right hand with the natural swing of the arm in fact unless he had been very lame which he evidently was not still it was only a question of probability though the probability was very great of course you understand that those particulars of woody fibre and starch granules were disintegrated snuff grains this explanation like the others was quite simple when one had heard it though it gave me material for much thought as we peddled on along the dark road with thorn dyke's light flickering in front and the dog cart pattering in our wake but there was ample time for reflection for our pace rather precluded conversation and we rode on mile after mile until my legs ached with fatigue on and on we went through village after village now losing the trail in some frequented street but picking it up again unfailingly as we emerged onto the country road until at last in the paved high street of the little town of horsefield we lost it for good we rode on through the town out onto the country road but although there were several tracks of motors thorn dyke shook his head at them all i've been studying those tires until i know them by heart he said no either he is in the town or he has left it by a side road there was nothing for it but to put up the horse and the machines at the hotel while we walked round to reconnoiter and this we did tramping up one street and down another with eyes bent on the ground fruitlessly searching for a trace of the missing car suddenly at the door of a black smith shop thorn dyke halted the shop had been kept open late for the shooing of a carriage horse which was just being led away and the smith had come to the door for a breath of air thorn dyke accosted him genuinely good evening you are just the man i wanted to see i have mislaid the address of a friend of mine who i think called on you this afternoon a lame gentleman who walks with a stick i expect he wanted you to pick a lock or make him a key oh i remember him said the man yes he had lost his latch key and wanted the lock picked before he could get into his house had to leave his motor car outside while he came here but i took some keys round with me and fitted one to his latch he then directed us to a house at the end of a street close by and having thanked him we went off in high spirits how did you know he had been there i asked i didn't but there was the mark of a stick and part of a left foot on the soft earth inside the doorway and the thing was inherently probable so i risked a false shot the house stood alone at the far end of a straggling street and was enclosed by a high wall in which on the side facing the street was a door and a wide carriage gate advancing to the former thorn dyke took from his pocket the perloined key and tried it in the lock it fitted perfectly and when he had turned it and pushed open the door we entered a small courtyard crossing this we came to the front door of the house the latch of which fortunately fitted the same key and this having been opened by thorn dyke we trooped into the hall immediately we heard the sound of an opening door above and a reedy nasal voice sang out hello there who's that below the voice was followed by the appearance of a head projecting over the baluster rail you are mr persie holden i think said the inspector at the mention of this name the head was withdrawn and a quick tread was heard accompanied by the tapping of a stick on the floor we started to ascend the stairs the inspector leading as the authorized official but we had only gone up a few steps when a fierce wiry little man danced out onto the landing with a thick stick in one hand and a very large revolver in the other move another step either of you he shouted pointing the weapon at the inspector and i let fly and mind you when i shoot i hit he looked as if he meant it and we accordingly halted with remarkable suddenness while the inspector proceeded to parlay now what's the good of this mr holden said he the game's up and you know it you clear out of my house and clear out sharp was the inhospitable rejoinder or you'll give me the trouble of burying you in the garden i looked round to consult with thorn dyke when to my amazement i found that he had vanished apparently through the open hall door i was admiring his discretion when the inspector endeavored to reopen negotiations but was cut short abruptly i'm going to count fifty said mr holden and if you aren't gone then i shall shoot he began to count deliberately and the inspector looked round at me and complete the wilderness the flight of stairs was a long one and well lighted by gas so that to rush it was an impossibility suddenly my heart gave a bound and i held my breath for out of an open door behind our quarry a figure emerged slowly and noiselessly onto the landing it was thorn dyke shoeless and in his shirt sleeves slowly and with catlike stealthiness he crept across the landing until he was within a yard of the unconscious fugitive and still the nasal voice droned on monotonously counting out the allotted seconds forty one forty two forty three there was a lightning like movement a shout and a flash a bang a shower a falling plaster and then the revolver came clattering down the stairs the inspector and i rushed up and in a moment the sharp click of the handcuffs told mr Percy holden that the game was really up five minutes later freddy boy half asleep but holy cheerful was born on thorn dyke's shoulders into the private sitting room of the black horse hotel a shriek of joy saluted his entrance and a shower of maternal kisses brought him to the verge of suffocation finally the impulsive mrs holden turned suddenly to thorn dyke seized both his hands and for a moment i hoped that she was going to kiss him too but he was spared and i have not yet recovered from the disappointment end of chapter two