"I knew she'd gone off with him, I was there when it happened. I thought Kendric was another of her one-night stands. Kats is like that, you see. Bit of a bed-hopper."

"What I'd like to know is whether or not she's bright enough to work out that your grandfather was planning to translocate his memories into the NN core," Greg said. "She was here for a few days. The opportunity exists."

"A week." Julia stared pensively at the leather-bound books on the wall shelving, not bothering to cut in the processor node. Remembering all those years she and Kats had spent together at school. Only time's perspective gave them a totally different slant, like an old play whose plot she'd forgotten. They'd seemed like great days while they were happening, insufferably tedious now. "Kats never paid any attention to classes, too busy with boys," she said slowly, reluctant to condemn. "But no, she's not stupid. It's just that I find it hard to believe Kats would bother listening to idle business chatter, let alone interpret it."

"She wouldn't have to interpret it, Kendric would do that for himself," Greg said.

"I'm sure I never mentioned the NN core project in front of her. I wouldn't have, there'd be no point, science and finance simply don't fit into her world view. And Grandpa and I certainly never discussed it at meals."

"She may have overheard it being mentioned. There's a certain thrill in eavesdropping on the conversations of someone as powerful as your grandfather. Even if she couldn't make sense of it at the time she might remember what was said."

"True enough," said Walshaw. "Though the Kendric connection is still circumstantial."

"Don't be obtuse, Morgan," Julia said. After all Greg had gone through he didn't deserve disparaging observations. "Of course Kendric's guilty, he reeks of it."

"I wasn't disagreeing," the security chief said mildly. "It is the degree of Kendric's involvement which seems to be unresolved."

"Not the exact degree, no," Greg said. "But he's in deep, no messing. And I think we can rule out a mole now we know about Katerina." He glanced at Walshaw for confirmation.

"Yes."

"OK, that just leaves the question of why Kendric allowed Julia to buy him out. I still don't understand that, and it bothers me. We know he's in trouble with the family over the money he withdrew from Event Horizon's backing consortium, and he's working on some deals to try and fill the gap, provide the house with an equal return. That's got to be the key, these deals of his. And they're tied up with you somewhere." He shot Julia a fast glance.

She knew he meant his intuition again. It gave her a creepy feeling, the way his suspicions about the spoiler had turned out to be true. Now Kendric was making unknown deals.

"Raw materials?" Walshaw suggested. "Is he buying up the options on the compounds that go into the giga-conductor?"