"There's something to be said for your marine landscape here, after
all," remarked the Sergeant. "Here are a woman's footsteps, Mr.
Betteredge! Let us call them Rosanna's footsteps, until we find evidence
to the contrary that we can't resist. Very confused footsteps, you will
please to observe--purposely confused, I should say. Ah, poor soul, she
understands the detective virtues of sand as well as I do! But hasn't
she been in rather too great a hurry to tread out the marks thoroughly?
I think she has. Here's one footstep going FROM Cobb's Hole; and here
is another going back to it. Isn't that the toe of her shoe pointing
straight to the water's edge? And don't I see two heel-marks further
down the beach, close at the water's edge also? I don't want to hurt
your feelings, but I'm afraid Rosanna is sly. It looks as if she had
determined to get to that place you and I have just come from, without
leaving any marks on the sand to trace her by. Shall we say that she
walked through the water from this point till she got to that ledge of
rocks behind us, and came back the same way, and then took to the beach
again where those two heel marks are still left? Yes, we'll say that.
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