Talk about not connecting the dots. Or, in this case, tying the laces.

It took half a dozen years, but a spate of five burglaries around the University of Delaware campus over the Christmas break helped police in the college town of Newark, Del., divine an odd pattern: The only items taken were men's shoes, pictures of men and a handful of boxer shorts.

After the public learned of the Great Shoe Caper, more victims came forward. Many of them, apparently relieved that nothing much of value had been taken, had never reported the break-ins. Others had called authorities, but because the thefts were spread out over six years, and had taken place exclusively on holidays, when students were typically away from campus, no one linked them to one puzzling case.

No one, that is, until the thief hit five student rental houses in just a few days, including the Kappa Sigma fraternity house, where someone made off with not only shoes, but a framed portrait of the organization's members.

"That was the beginning of our saga," said Newark police Lt. Brian Henry. Henry said detectives have dubbed the person responsible the "Shoe Breaker," though he conceded: "We're looking for something catchier."

Police now have a full-on serial footwear burglar on the loose.

And on Sunday, detectives got their first clue.

It appears the shoes have turned up.

In Maryland.

A man walking along Big Elk Creek early Sunday reported seeing a man in a yellow Mitsubishi leave three duffel bags in the water near Brewster Bridge Road in Elkton, just over the state line from Newark. They were filled with a total of 250 shoes. The man, a Delaware resident, picked up the bags and brought them to police in his home state.

Now the Newark Police Department has the look - and smell - of a used shoe store.

The 250 pieces of footwear are lined up in perfect rows on the floor of a garage, next to the bags they came in, organized in much the same way police display drugs and guns from large busts. Most are tennis shoes and sneakers, but a few sandals, slippers and work boots are in the mix. There were no photos in the bag, and no other identification.

Henry said the water-logged, muddy, ratty shoes are drying.

Then some unfortunate police officer will sort through the pile and try to match pairs.

And then, police said, they'll move them to the evidence control room and victims will be called in to match foot to shoe.

But police are no closer to a suspect.

There is no evidence linking the shoes to the break-ins, Henry said, though he acknowledged the obvious: "It's a safe bet."

Gabe Mendez, vice president of Kappa Sigma, said some of his housemates think they've seen some of their missing shoes in photos police have made public. He said the burglar broke into the frat house twice, once over Thanksgiving and again over Christmas.

Mendez said more than 30 pairs of shoes were taken from the house, where 27 students live. "I think a lot of the brothers were sort of weirded out by the whole thing," he said. "All we could think about was, 'What would this guy want with a bunch of shoes and pictures?' "

Mendez said nothing else was missing. "He passed through a room with a pretty big TV and a video game," he said. "He left all that there."

Henry said the thief doesn't appear to favor any particular brand or style. "It seems to be any and all types," he noted. That most of the footwear are sneakers might say more about the victims (college students) than about the person doing the stealing. He or she does, however, appear to be picky about gender.

"There are no women's shoes," Henry said.

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