Abraham Crawford, the bootmaker, lifted the plaster casts that Watters placed on his counter. “That one’s a common pattern,” he pointed to the entire print. “I make soles like that. Traditional leather, not hand made. You can pick them up in any bootmaker’s shop in Dundee or anywhere else. You won’t be able to trace that, Sergeant.”
“And the other one? The part heel?”
Crawford lifted the cast. “I’ve never seen such a pattern before,” he said. “It’s none of mine, certainly, and I’ve not come across the like. “He shook his head. “I don’t know if the boot was homemade, Sergeant, but I’d say that no bootmaker would put in segs like that. There’s no regular pattern.”
“Thank you, Mr Crawford,” Watters said.
Crawford was the fourth bootmaker Watters had tried, and all said the same thing. The
