A former policeman has told the World's End murder trial how he helped one of the victims to her feet outside the pub before she disappeared 30 years ago.
A teenage murder victim may have been strangled with a stocking, the World's End trial has heard.
John Rafferty, 50, said Christine Eadie then walked away with a "shifty" looking man and her friend Helen Scott.
The High Court in Edinburgh was also told a footprint may have been left on Helen Scott's neck by her killer.
Later, a retired detective also told the High Court in Edinburgh how the bodies of the teenagers were found in separate locations in East Lothian.
Retired Professor John Mason, who carried out a post-mortem on Ms Scott 30 years ago, said her injuries were consistent with "manual strangulation".
Angus Sinclair, 62, has denied raping and killing the two girls.
Angus Sinclair, 62, denies raping and murdering Ms Scott and her friend Christine Eadie. Both were aged 17.
Mr Rafferty, now an enforcement officer with Edinburgh City Council, said Ms Eadie, 17, had fallen over outside the pub in October 1977.
Prof Mason, 87, said he had found an imprint left by a stocking which had been tied around Ms Scott's neck and four bruises left by fingers under her jaw.
The former police officer said he thought there was a second man with them as well. He was watching to see if they got into a car.
He said: "They are the injuries you would expect in manual strangulation."
Closing time
The professor said a row of horizontal scratches in front of and behind the dead girl's left ear had been left by "Something patterned. The most likely thing with that sort of pattern is the sole of a shoe".
The former policeman said he recognised the girls from photos circulated to police after their naked and bound bodies were found seven or eight miles apart the next day.
He said perhaps the marks were caused by a sole and heel, with the instep of the foot over the ear. Some force like a stamping motion would have been needed, he added.
He also realised he had been at the same school as Ms Eadie and Ms Scott, 17, although they were a couple of years below him.
Separate locations
Mr Rafferty said he was standing at the street corner watching the closing time crowds on Saturday, 15 October 1977.
The professor also witnessed the post mortem examination carried out at the same time on Ms Eadie.
"I heard a thud as though someone had fallen," he said.
The cause of death was again recorded as asphyxia following strangulation by ligature and gagging of the mouth in her case.
"I could see a female had fallen just at the edge of the gutter and the footpath."
The trial has heard that the bodies of the two 17-year-olds were found in separate locations East Lothian in October 1977.
I assumed he was with the girls but he wasn't speaking, he wasn't saying anything John RaffertyFormer policeman
Ms Eadie was naked and had her underwear stuffed in her mouth. Partially clothed Ms Scott was covered by a coat.
As he tried to steady her another female emerged from the crowd of people and, from their conversation, he thought they were together.
A former policeman had earlier told how he helped one of the victims to her feet outside the World's End pub in Edinburgh shortly before she disappeared 30 years ago.
One girl wanted to go on somewhere but her companion just wanted to go home, he told advocate depute Alan Mackay, prosecuting.
John Rafferty, 50, said Ms Eadie then walked away with a "shifty" looking man and her friend Helen Scott.
He also became aware of a man who was just standing there, looking at them silently.
Mr Sinclair, 62, denies raping and murdering the girls after forcing them into a vehicle near the pub in the Royal Mile.
"I assumed he was with the girls but he wasn't speaking, he wasn't saying anything," said Mr Rafferty.
He claims his brother-in-law, Gordon Hamilton, who has since died, is the killer.
"He wasn't making any kind of eye contact. He was looking away from me," added the former policeman.
The man stood out because of the way he was dressed, said Mr Rafferty.
"He was dressed out of fashion. That was what struck me. He was wearing clothes people had been wearing in Edinburgh two years ago," he said.
Ms Eadie was helped to her feet outside the pub
"He had flared trousers with a high waistband."
He also told the jury: "Having been a police officer for a number of years, I felt this person was a bit shifty with me, wasn't wanting to make eye contact.
"You get the impression when you are a police officer that some people don't like police officers and the way this chap was looking at me, he didn't like police officers."
He said the brown-haired man walked away with the girl "just as close as anyone would be if they were walking together" although they were not holding hands.
Retired chief inspector Anthony Coates, 73, was the first policeman on the scene after Ms Eadie's body was found by a couple walking on the beach at Gosford Bay on Sunday, 16 October 1977.
He told the court: "The body was that of a young woman who was naked, auburn haired. She was lying at the high water mark on the beach.
Hands tied
Mr Coates also said there was a ligature, possibly a stocking, round the girl's neck and another stocking, he thought, had been used to tie her hands.
He was also called out later that Sunday when Ms Scott's body was found in a field some seven or eight miles away.
He said he could see she was lying face down and, he thought, naked under a coat which was covering the body.
Her hands were also tied behind her back.
The court heard that an extensive search with tracking dogs over a wide area failed to find any of the girls' missing clothing.
The charges allege that at the time Mr Sinclair was acting along with his now-dead brother-in-law, Gordon Hamilton, who was then 22.
Mr Sinclair claims that any sexual contact with the girls was with their consent and blames Gordon Hamilton for the murders.
