Conversation · Footprints in the Dust

You clearly see footprints in the downy carpet of dust covering the workshop floor.

"Jackpot." The lieutenant takes out his notebook. "These, unlike everything else here, are new."

[Leave.]

Crouch, study the footprints.

Large prints, most likely made by boots. The size is hard to determine (sole could be bigger than vamp). The soles have left a pattern -- uniform, horizontal lines.

One person has been here. They've gone back and forth. The tips point both ways.

This print is unlike one left by a regular worker boot. It is not a brand sole, with logos on it. It seems custom made or old fashioned.

Shoe size is 41-42, maybe 43. It could be a large-footed woman or a small-to-average-footed man. This is, unfortunately, the worst, most vague shoe size there is.

Of course! Damn...

Get up. (Conclude.)

Everything around you is quiet. The prints criss-cross the workshop floor.

"This print doesn't look like the Odd-soled print we found at the hanging, Kim."

He inspects the tracks closer. "The size looks about the same, actually. They're not the same shoe, but they could be the same person."

"I wouldn't rule out Ruby coming here yet. This isn't an argument against her. People change shoes, you know. But it's not argument for her either."

"This doesn't look like the workers boots from the hanging, does it?"

"No. These little... horizontal lines are different. They look custom made to me. Or some kind of foreign print? Hard to say. Still a boot though."

"The prints look like one person went back and forth."

"Between that," he points to the elevator doors in the corner, "and that," he points to the barred door.

This print doesn't look like the Odd Sole.

The footprints are of one type. They do not congratulate you for correctly recognizing what type they are not.

Get up.

The footprints are still there. They have told their story.

One person went back and forth.

The footprints go up the length of the room and back down. That is all they do.

This doesn't look like the workers boots from the hanging, does it?

The footprints do not speak. They simply exist here, a product of the dust; just as the footprints outside are a product of the mud and apparently different shoes.

Someone's been back here -- recently.

"Three weeks maximum -- from the dust coverage. It could easily have been one week too. You know, officer..." He looks at you.

This is so good it makes him forget the whole Kimball memory.

"It was a stereo-investigation after all. It has now converged with our main investigation. Adding a new fact to consider."

"The blue door was a mega-investigation after all -- it has now converged with our main investigation, which I would say is quite large."

"This isn't bad at all -- it was a good idea to see where that door leads. Commendable work bringing us to this place."

This is good. He likes it. That's a little smile there -- in the dark of the workshop.

The dust has not settled again where these footprints have been made. The displacement in this dusty hell tells a story.

What does this mean?

"It means someone snuck through what seems like a secret route -- leading to the roof. The roof, from where you can shoot our victim. This is significant."

"These prints, officer, could be the prints of our killer. And if not -- at least they're a good argument for this Ruby doing it. To present to Titus."

"It means someone snuck through what seems like a secret route -- leading to the roof. From where you can shoot our victim. This is significant."

"These prints, officer -- could be the prints of our killer."

"It means someone snuck through what seems like a secret route -- behind our rape victim's room. In the recent weeks. This may prove to be significant."

"It means someone snuck through what seems like a secret route -- behind our rape victim's room. In the recent weeks. This may prove to be significant."

Neither the footprints nor the dust speak their secrets. But you know: it means that someone has been back here.