John Thorndykes Cases | Page 3

rigid leather,
so that we can diagnose high boots, massive and stiff, with nailless
soles, and many sizes too large for the wearer. But the only boot that
answers this description is the fisherman's thigh-boot--made of
enormous size to enable him to wear in the winter two or three pairs of
thick knitted stockings, one over the other. Now look at the other
footprints; there is a double track, you see, one set coming from the sea
and one going towards it. As the man (who was bow-legged and turned

his toes in) has trodden in his own footprints, it is obvious that he came
from the sea, and returned to it. But observe the difference in the two
sets of prints; the returning ones are much deeper than the others, and
the stride much shorter. Evidently he was carrying something when he
returned, and that something was very heavy. Moreover, we can see, by
the greater depth of the toe impressions, that he was stooping forward
as he walked, and so probably carried the weight on his back. Is that
quite clear?"
"Perfectly," I replied. "But how do you arrive at the interval of time
between the visits of the two men?"
"That also is quite simple. The tide is now about halfway out; it is thus
about three hours since high water. Now, the fisherman walked just
about the neap-tide, high-water mark, sometimes above it and
sometimes below. But none of his footprints have been obliterated;
therefore he passed after high water--that is, less than three hours ago;
and since his footprints are all equally distinct, he could not have
passed when the sand was very wet. Therefore he probably passed less
than an hour ago. The other man's footprints, on the other hand, reach
only to the neap-tide, high-water mark, where they end abruptly. The
sea has washed over the remainder of the tracks and obliterated them.
Therefore he passed not less than three hours and not more than four
days ago--probably within twenty-four hours."
As Thorndyke concluded his demonstration the sound of voices was
borne to us from above, mingled with the tramping of feet, and
immediately afterwards a very singular party appeared at the head of
the gap descending towards the shore. First came a short burly
fisherman clad in oilskins and sou'-wester, clumping along awkwardly
in his great sea-boots, then the local police-sergeant in company with
my professional rival Dr. Burrows, while the rear of the procession was
brought up by two constables carrying a stretcher. As he reached the
bottom of the gap the fisherman, who was evidently acting as guide,
turned along the shore, retracing his own tracks, and the procession
followed in his wake.
"A surgeon, a stretcher, two constables, and a police-sergeant,"

observed Thorndyke. "What does that suggest to your mind, Jervis?"
"A fall from the cliff," I replied, "or a body washed up on the shore."
"Probably," he rejoined; "but we may as well walk in that direction."
We turned to follow the retreating procession, and as we strode along
the smooth surface left by the retiring tide Thorndyke resumed:
"The subject of footprints has always interested me deeply for two
reasons. First, the evidence furnished by footprints is constantly being
brought forward, and is often of cardinal importance; and, secondly, the
whole subject is capable of really systematic and scientific treatment. In
the main the data are anatomical, but age, sex, occupation, health, and
disease all give their various indications. Clearly, for instance, the
footprints of an old man will differ from those of a young man of the
same height, and I need not point out to you that those of a person
suffering from locomotor ataxia or paralysis agitans would be quite
unmistakable."
"Yes, I see that plainly enough," I said.
"Here, now," he continued, "is a case in point." He halted to point with
his stick at a row of footprints that appeared suddenly above high-water
mark, and having proceeded a short distance, crossed the line again,
and vanished where the waves had washed over them. They were easily
distinguished from any of the others by the clear impressions of
circular rubber heels.
"Do you see anything remarkable about them?" he asked.
"I notice that they are considerably deeper than our own," I answered.
"Yes, and the boots are about the same size as ours, whereas the stride
is considerably shorter--quite a short stride, in fact. Now there is a
pretty constant ratio between the length of the foot and the length of the
leg, between the length of leg and the height of the person, and between
the stature and the length of stride. A long foot means a long leg, a tall

man, and a long stride. But here we have a long foot and a