They didn't have much difficulty in finding the cobbler's. It was quite close to the garage.

"Bets and I will go to the cobbler. Daisy, take Buster. You three go with Buster to that cafe down the road. Wait there and we'll join you in some time" Fatty said

Fatty and Bets pushed the door open, a bell jingled overhead, and the two of them went in. They sat down. A rather bald, bearded man shuffled into the room.

"What can I get you?" he asked in a shaky voice.

"Boots, snow boots," Fatty replied.

"Size?" he asked.

"Oh, seven". The man started looking in various racks. After a minute's search, he brought a pair of brown boots. Fatty looked at it and found that it had no patterns!

"Rare, these are, they don't have patterns." Fatty said.

"Oh yes, it is. It sells only in this shop. Only that garage owner buys it, though. No one else does" the cobbler said.

Fatty and Bets tried their best to hide their excitement. Fatty bought the boots and they went to the cafe.

"This means, he is the thief" Bets told Fatty on their way. They entered the cafe. It was small and well kept. It had light purple coloured walls and curtains. It had small round tables. It was nearly empty and only two tables were occupied. One by Larry, Pip and Daisy and the other by two men at the opposite corner.

"Found anything?" Larry asked.

"He said that boots without patterns sell only in his shop and the only one who buys it is our dear friend, Edward Williams" Fatty said.

"This confirms that he is the thief!" Daisy said.

"But Fatty , one thing is, how did he get the key?" Bets said.

"Oh, he must have stolen that too" Fatty said. "Cook said Alice is returning today" Larry added.

"But, one more thing is, the footprints were made after the robbery, it had been snowing that night" Bets said.

"We nearly forgot that!" Fatty said.

"So, Mr.Williams has come later, as now we know that those footprints are his" Larry said

"But then, who did the robbery, why did Mr.Williams come later and what was that mark?" asked Daisy.

"Could Mr.Williams have done the robbery and come back again?" Larry asked.

"We have no proof" Fatty said when the waitress brought sandwiches. They started munching away in silence but their minds were working rapidly. When they had finished, Fatty got a hand full of change from his pocket as usual.

"No, Fatty ; you always pay. Let me, this time." Pip said and pushed Fatty's hand aside.

"Okay, " Fatty said and put the money back in his pocket. Pip drew some money from his pocket and paid the bill.

As they came out towards their bicycles Bets asked, " Where are we going now, Fatty?"

"To my shed. We can discuss anything we want without any disturbance" Fatty replied.

They cycled to Fatty's shed. When they had all settled comfortably in Fatty's cozy shed, Fatty took out his notebook and opened the page titled, 'SUSPECTS'. He wrote down Alice's and Mr.Williams' names.

"Why have you written Alice's name? Do you suspect her?" asked Bets who had been peering over his shoulder.

"I'm afraid, I do. It is very likely that she did not do it but there is a possibility. She might have been here all the time and never gone to Sheepridge. She could've just walked into the house when it was empty, taken what she wanted, locked the kitchen door and left. She'd say she was in Sheepridge but its a very poor alibi" Fatty said.

"Fatty, we haven't yet checked out Williams' alibi" Larry added.

"That's a point, but how can we?"