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shrugged. “I suppose scientists live in a different world. They can easily get carried away by their enthusiasms.”
    “Sir Noah himself is a scientist.”
    “Oh yes, of course. But he’s a practical businessman, too, and Trent would never have been that.”
    “You don’t think so? I rather understood that Dr. Trent was seen as Sir Noah’s ultimate successor.”
    McEvoy took a while to answer. “If Sir Noah ever regarded that as a possibility, I’m sure he has long abandoned the idea.”
    Kate leaned back in her chair. “That’s all for now, Mr. McEvoy. I may need to have a further talk with you tomorrow.”
    Now that he was free to leave, he seemed oddly reluctant. “Er ... if Sir Noah doesn’t return soon, Chief Inspector ...” He dithered to a halt, and Kate prompted him. “What is it you want to say?”
    He gestured around in a vague sort of way. “I’ve been wondering. Suppose Sir Noah doesn’t ever come back, what will become of Croptech? He’s been away before, of course, on holiday, but he’s always left me my instructions. But now, with Dr. Trent gone too, I don’t quite know what I should do. Do you think the firm might be sold?”
    “Would Croptech readily find a buyer, Mr. McEvoy?”
    “Well, I imagine so. Not at its true value, though, not without Sir Noah at the helm.”
    “Perhaps Mr. Aidan Kimberley will step in and run things here,” Kate suggested, watching his face.
    McEvoy shook his head from side to side, looking dismayed and at a loss. Clearly he was a man who liked routine, and any kind of change disturbed him.
    Boulter said as the door closed behind him, “He obviously hated Trent’s guts. Could he be our chummy, guv?”
    “He certainly took fright when I asked him about last night.” Kate was thoughtful as she glanced down at her list. “Let’s have Dr. Miller in now, and see what we make of her.”
     

Chapter Four
     
    Cheryl Miller made quite an impression the moment she walked into the room. A professional woman of Kate’s age and Kate’s height—but there the resemblance ended. Cheryl Miller positively exuded sexuality. Richard Gower had commented that she was the sort of woman whom once seen was never forgotten. She had dramatic green eyes, full sensual lips, and a voluptuous figure that was clearly evident even beneath her starched laboratory coat. Her mass of hair, a subtle shade of auburn (an expensive tint job?), was drawn back into a tortoiseshell clip. Kate guessed that a single practised flip would send it tumbling sexily about her shoulders. Boulter, on his feet in a flash, seemed to be steaming slightly.
    Cheryl Miller spared the sergeant one direct glance, then totally ignored him. Her green eyes, sparking with hostility, were fixed challengingly on Kate as she dropped into the chair provided and crossed her legs ... long, shapely legs that terminated in a pair of high-heeled black court shoes.
    “About bloody time, too. At least you’re a woman,” she added with grudging approval. “That makes a pleasant change.”
    Amused, Kate asked, “This isn’t the first time you’ve been interrogated by the police?”
    The green eyes narrowed in anger. “I just meant it makes a change to see a woman in any position of authority. Not that you’ll climb much higher, I hope you realize. Detective Chief Inspector is about as far as they’ll ever let a woman get, the bastards.”
    “You seem to have a low opinion of men, Dr. Miller.”
    “Oh, they have their limited uses. Though even in bed they seem to imagine they’re God’s gift to us women. You must have found that.”
    “Since you’ve been kept waiting,” said Kate dryly, “perhaps we’d better get on with the business in hand.”
    She let Boulter handle the routine details and his voice sounded definitely husky. Cheryl Miller’s arrogance could be forgiven, Kate thought, if this was the instant effect she had on a man.
    Kate took over with a foursquare question. “Who might have wanted