One Plus One: A Novel

In his tech company’s creative room, Ed Nicholls waits anxiously. Eighteen months have passed since he and his partner, Ronan, sold half their company to a firm they call the Suits, and they have just launched their new SFAX software. Sidney, a finance director from the parent company, arrives and asks Ed if he knows a woman named Deanna Lewis. Ed answers evasively, but Sidney informs him that the police and the Financial Services Authority are searching his office.

Sidney explains that Deanna’s brother was arrested for insider trading after profiting from information Ed provided about the SFAX launch. Although Ed insists he mentioned the tip offhandedly, he admits he was in a relationship with Deanna. Sidney suspends him immediately. As Ed protests, he notices even Ronan avoiding his gaze. Two police officers arrive to escort him from the building.

Jess Thomas and her business partner, Nathalie Benson, are parked in their cleaning van, lamenting the loss of a regular client. Jess inadvertently exposed the client’s husband’s affair after finding a diamond earring while cleaning the house, so she doesn’t expect that the humiliated wife would want her to come back. Most of their business in their seaside town comes from the Beachfront development that has holiday homes for wealthy visitors.