The most unusual thing of all,
as it seems to me, is that the lady should be tied to the chair."
"Well, I am not so clear about that, Watson; for it is evident
that they must either kill her or else secure her in such a
way that she could not give immediate notice of their escape.
But at any rate I have shown, have I not, that there is a certain
element of improbability about the lady's story? And now
on the top of this comes the incident of the wine-glasses."
"What about the wine-glasses?"
"Can you see them in your mind's eye?"
"I see them clearly."
"We are told that three men drank from them.
Does that strike you as likely?"
"Why not? There was wine in each glass."
"Exactly; but there was bees-wing only in one glass. You must
have noticed that fact. What does that suggest to your mind?"
"The last glass filled would be most likely to contain bees-wing."
"Not at all. The bottle was full of it, and it is inconceivable
that the first two glasses were clear and the third heavily
charged with it. There are two possible explanations, and only
two. One is that after the second glass was filled the bottle
was violently agitated, and so the third glass received the
bees-wing.
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