"Why not? Sure, I dare to take a bet with you," Kitty answered with head held high. Since many people were looking at her, Kitty was challenged by this young boy so she impulsively agreed to bet with him. Additionally, she was confident that Charlie couldn't show any strong evidence against her.
"Follow me," Charlie commanded as he turned around. He was going to the exact spot where Sheryl fell.
Charlie led the way while the rest followed him. Sheryl also stood up and followed. She was curious to know what tricks Charlie had.
"Is this spot where Sher exactly fell?" Charlie asked faintly. He turned around and looked in Kitty's direction, expecting her to answer his question.
Kitty nodded and answered arrogantly, "Yes, that is. So what?"
She gave Charlie a sardonic smile and said in a faint voice, "As you can see, the floor around the pool is all wet. It's not impossible for someone to slip and fall into the pool accidentally. Do you really want to prove that I caused Sheryl's accident by just showing us this place? That's so ridiculous. Everyone saw that she fell from here."
"Of course I know that you can't be convicted by merely showing this spot." Charlie kept calm, and his face was expressionless. He caught a glance at Kitty and added grimly, "What can truly convict you is the pair of muddy footprints."
Upon hearing Charlie's last words, everybody fastened their eyes on the footprints. Charles immediately understood what Charlie was trying to do. He delightedly stared at him and thought to himself, 'Although he's just a child, he is already as smart as his father.'
Sheryl felt a little concerned so she tugged Charles' coat tail and said, "Just bring Charlie back. He is just a kid. He shouldn't be involved in this kind of trouble."
Charles just smiled softly. He was absolutely confident that Charlie could solve this matter. He believed his son could do it well.
"Don't worry about him," Charles gently reassured Sheryl. Then he added calmly, "Since he's just a kid, he naturally has a different insight and mindset compared to us. Just wait and see. I think he really has some proofs."
Sheryl looked at Charlie in puzzlement.
Kitty also saw the two muddy footprints. They came in different sizes. However, she couldn't find anything unusual at all. So she asked Charlie impatiently, "Stop playing enigmatic. What do you want to prove by these footprints?"
"As we all know," Charlie paused for a while. "If Sher truly fell into the pool by accident, the floor must have some elongated footprints that would show someone slid and fell. But look at these footprints carefully. The smaller footprint is a muddy one while the other footprint shows the full sole. Neither of them shows any trace that someone slipped. So, it's obvious that someone really pushed Sheryl, and that was why she fell into the pool."
"You are talking nonsense!" Kitty yelled. She had belittled this child so much. She wondered how could this kid have such a strong reasoning capacity. "There were so many people here and they probably have passed by this area too. Why would you insist that these footprints belonged to Sheryl?" she asked dubiously.
Charlie stared at Kitty with his confident eyes. "You can check everybody. All of you here are wearing flip-flops except for Sher and Dad. They hadn't changed their shoes since they came back from the farmland and mountain climbing as well. So there must be mud all over the soles of their shoes. Therefore, the large footprints must be Dad's and the smaller ones must belong to Sher."
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