No doubt it would be opened by Hans.
Therefore the wine theory is not tenable, my friend.'
'I do not see why,' said Racksole. 'I know nothing of wine as an
expert, and I very seldom drink it, but it seems to me that a bottle
of wine might be tampered with while it was still in the cellar,
especially if there was an accomplice in the hotel.'
'You think, then, that you are not yet rid of all your conspirators?'
'I think that Jules might still have an accomplice within the
building.'
'And that a bottle of wine could be opened and recorked without
leaving any trace of the operation?' Babylon was a trifle sarcastic.
'I don't see the necessity of opening the bottle in order to poison
the wine,' said Racksole. 'I have never tried to poison anybody by
means of a bottle of wine, and I don't lay claim to any natural
talent as a poisoner, but I think I could devise several ways of
managing the trick. Of course, I admit I may be entirely mistaken
as to Jules' intentions.'
'Ah!' said Felix Babylon. 'The wine cellars beneath us are one of
the wonders of London. I hope you are aware, Mr Racksole, that
when you bought the Grand Babylon you bought what is probably
the finest stock of wines in England, if not in Europe. In the
valuation I reckoned them at sixty thousand pounds. And I may say
that I always took care that the cellars were properly guarded.
Even Jules would experience a serious difficulty in breaking into
the cellars without the connivance of the wine-clerk, and the
wine-clerk is, or was, incorruptible.
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