“So you think these Americans came here following a trail that started with Franconi?” Kevin asked. His intuition was telling him the same thing, but he wanted reinforcement.

“What else could it be?” Melanie questioned. “There’s no question in my mind.”

“Candace, what do you think?” Kevin asked.

“I agree with Melanie,” Candace said. “Otherwise, it’s too much of a coincidence.”

“Thank you, Candace!” Melanie said. While twirling her empty wineglass, she looked menacingly at Kevin. “I hate to interrupt this fascinating conversation, but where’s some of that great wine of yours, bucko?”

“Gosh, I totally forgot,” Kevin said. “Sorry!” He pushed back from the table and went into the butler’s pantry that he’d filled with his mostly untouched wine allocation. As he was looking through the labels, which held little meaning for him, he was suddenly struck by how much wine he had. Counting the bottles in a small area and extrapolating it to allow for the entire room, he realized he had more than three hundred bottles.

“My word,” Kevin said as a plan began to form in his head. He grabbed an armload of bottles and pushed through the swinging door into the kitchen.

Esmeralda got up from where she was sitting having her own dinner.

“I have a favor to ask,” Kevin said. “Would you take these bottles of wine and a corkscrew down to the soldiers at the foot of the stairs?”

“So many?” she questioned.

“Yes, and I’d like you to take even more to the soldiers in the town hall. If they ask what the occasion is, tell them that I’m going away, and I wanted them to enjoy the wine, not the manager.”

A smile spread across Esmeralda’s face. She looked at Kevin. “I think I understand.” From a cupboard she got the canvas bag that she used for shopping and loaded it with wine bottles. A moment later, she disappeared through the butler’s pantry, heading for the front hall.

Kevin made several trips back and forth from his wine collection to the kitchen table. Soon he had several dozen bottles lined up, including a couple bottles of port.

“What’s going on?” Melanie enquired after sticking her head into the kitchen. “We’re waiting and where’s the wine?”

Kevin handed her one of the bottles. He said he’d be a few minutes more and they should start eating without him. Melanie rolled the bottle over to look at the label.

“Oh, my, Château Latour!” she said. She flashed Kevin an appreciative grin, before ducking back into the dining room.

Esmeralda returned to say that the soldiers were very pleased. “But I thought I’d take them some bread,” she added. “It will stimulate their thirst.”

“Marvelous idea,” Kevin said. He filled the canvas bag with wine and tested its weight. It was heavy, but he thought Esmeralda could handle it.

“Let me know how many soldiers are at the town hall,” Kevin said as he handed her the bag. “We want to make sure there is plenty for everyone.”