'
'That is what the vanquished always say. Waterloo was a bit of
pure luck for the English, no doubt, but it was Waterloo all the
same.'
Jules yawned elaborately. 'What do you want to know?' he
inquired, with politeness.
'First and foremost, I want to know the names of your accomplices
inside this hotel.'
'I have no more,' said Jules. 'Rocco was the last.'
'Don't begin by lying to me. If you had no accomplice, how did you
contrive that one particular bottle of Roman?e-Conti should be
served to his Highness Prince Eugen?'
'Then you discovered that in time, did you?' said Jules. 'I was afraid
so.
Let me explain that that needed no accomplice. The bottle was
topmost in the bin, and naturally it would be taken. Moreover, I
left it sticking out a little further than the rest.'
'You did not arrange, then, that Hubbard should be taken ill the
night before last?'
'I had no idea,' said Jules, 'that the excellent Hubbard was not
enjoying his accustomed health.'
'Tell me,' said Racksole, 'who or what is the origin of your vendetta
against the life of Prince Eugen?'
'I had no vendetta against the life of Prince Eugen,' said Jules, 'at
least, not to begin with. I merely undertook, for a consideration, to
see that Prince Eugen did not have an interview with a certain Mr
Sampson Levi in London before a certain date, that was all. It
seemed simple enough.
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