Interpreting the Tracks

Holmes and I followed the footsteps down the yew alley to the gate half-way down it where there was a gate opening out on to the moor. There were indications, in the form of the ashes from a cigar, showing that Sir Charles had stood for some little way there. When we followed the footsteps onwards, I remarked that they had changed their character; it appeared that from thence onwards he had been walking upon his toes. Down at the far end, where his body had been found, we stopped.
"Well, Watson, as you can see there are no other prints near the place where the Baronet was found. What do you make of it?"
"It is very bewildering."
"It has certainly a character of its own. There are points of distinction about it. That change in the footprints, for example. That is remarkable, do you not agree?"
"I am completely baffled as to why Sir Charles suddenly began to walk on tiptoe."
"Walk on tiptoe! My dear Watson, that is rubbish. Why should a man walk on tiptoe down the alley?"
"What then?"
"He was running, Watson - running desperately, running like a madman in order to catch up with something, chasing something until his heart burst and he fell dead upon is face."
"Catch up with what, Holmes? You mystify me."
Pulling out his magnifying glass and leaving the yew alley, Holmes proceeded to study the surrounding ground in ever wider circles. Finally, with a satisfied grunt, he stopped. He turned to me.
"What about this, then, Watson?"
I came up with him. Holmes, with that flair for the dramatic that was a constitutent in his enigmatic personality, pointed at the ground.
"Here, Watson! The prints of something that proceeded outside the alley, and that Sir Charles vainly tried to catch up with until it cost him his life. And when you study these traces carefully, you will realize the terrible truth - you will understand the true cause of Sir Charles's taxing his heart to the bursting point."
I looked at the ground, and all was clear to me. I turned away and hid my face in my hands.
The footprints that Sir Charles had vainly pursued were those of a gigantic Troll.

Öjevind Lång

		Holmes
Sherlock