human
What is it? What have you found?
gpt
I have found a weak link that breaks your whole chain, triumphed M. Paul.
human
The alleyway footprints are _not_ identical with the soles of Kittredge's boots.
gpt
But you said they were, the experts said they were.
human
We were mistaken; they are _almost_ identical, but not quite; in shape and size they are identical, in the number and placing of the nails in the heel they are identical, in the worn places they are identical, but when you compare them under the magnifying glass, this photograph of the footprints with this one of the boot soles, you see unmistakable differences in the scratches on separate nails in the heel, unmistakable differences.
gpt
That's cutting it pretty fine to compare microscopic scratches on the heads of small nails.
human
Not at all. Don't we compare microscopic lines on criminals' thumbs? Besides, it's perfectly plain, insisted Coquenil, absorbed in his comparison.
gpt
I can count forty or fifty nail heads in the heel, and _none_ of them correspond under the glass; those that should be alike are _not_ alike. There are slight differences in size, in position, in wear; they are not the same set of nails; it's impossible. Look for yourself. Compare any two and you'll see _that they were never in the same pair of boots!_
human
It seems true, it certainly seems true, he grumbled,
gpt
Kittredge told you he had three pairs of boots; they were machine made and the same size; he says he kept them all going, so they were all worn approximately alike. We have the pair that he wore that night, and another pair found in his room, but the third pair is missing. _It's the third pair of boots that made those alleyway footprints!_
human
Then you think--
gpt
I think we shall have found Martinez's murderer when we find the man who stole that third pair of boots.
human
Stole them?
gpt
But that is all conjecture.
human
It won't be conjecture to-morrow morning--it will be absolute proof, unless----
gpt
Unless what?
human
Unless Kittredge lied when he told that girl he had never suffered with gout or rheumatism.
gpt
FROM HIGHER UP