The Black Leather Slipper

“But Detective! How on earth did you know that it was Sir Edmund who stabbed Nanette, the French maid?”

“Ah, it was simple! You see, upon examining the bloody footprints left by the murderer in the billiard room, I deduced that they could only have been left by a very special shoe. A men’s Albert Slipper of impeccable design: leather sole, hand-worked leather heel, and, if I had to hazard a guess, made from matt black calf. Truly magnificent shoes.”

“Unbelievable! You got all that from a footprint?!”
“The cultivated eye observes much left unnoticed by the rest of the world.”
“But how did you know that these slippers belonged to Sir Edmund?”
“They could have belonged to no one else.
The man may be many things, including a homicidal maniac…But by God, he’s a well-dressed bastard.”

A.Sleep