A cast is the
impression of a mould, and therefore a facsimile of the object. If I
pour liquid plaster on a coin, when it sets I have a mould, a sunk
impression, of the coin. If I pour melted wax into the mould I obtain a
cast, a facsimile of the coin. A footprint is a mould of the foot. A
mould of the footprint is a cast of the foot, and a cast from the mould
reproduces the footprint."
"Thank you," said the magistrate. "Then your moulds from these two
footprints are really facsimiles of the murderer's shoes, and can be
compared with these shoes which have been put in evidence?"
"Yes, and when we compare them they demonstrate a very important fact."
"What is that?"
"It is that the prisoner's shoes were not the shoes that made those
footprints." A buzz of astonishment ran through the court, but Thorndyke
continued stolidly: "The prisoner's shoes were not in my possession, so
I went on to Barker's pond, on the clay margin of which I had seen
footprints actually made by the prisoner. I took moulds of those
footprints, and compared them with these from the sand. There are
several important differences, which you will see if you compare them.
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