‘You can’t say that.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Don’t you watch the news, Jess? All the graduates are out of work. It doesn’t matter what education you get. She’s still going to have to fight. She’s still going to struggle.’ He paused. ‘No. There’s no point us going further into hock just for this. Of course these schools are going to tell you it’s all special, and she’s special, and her life chances are going to be amazing if she goes, et cetera, et cetera. That’s what they do.’
Mum didn’t say anything.
‘No, if she’s bright like they say she is, she’ll make her own way. She’ll have to go to McArthur’s like everyone else.’
‘Like the little bastards who spend all their time working out how to bash Nicky’s face in. And the girls who wear four inches of makeup and won’t do PE in case they break a nail. She won’t fit in there, Marty. She just won’t.’
‘Now you sound like a snob.’
‘No, I sound like someone who accepts that her daughter is a little bit different. And might need a school that embraces it.’
‘Can’t do it, Jess. I’m sorry.’ He sounded distracted now, as if he’d heard something in the distance. ‘Look. I’ve got to go. Get her to Skype me Sunday.’
There was a long silence.
Tanzie counted to fourteen.
She heard the door open and Nicky’s voice: ‘That went well, then.’
She leant over and finally rubbed Norman’s tummy. She closed her eyes so she didn’t see the tear that plopped onto it.
‘Have we done any lottery tickets lately?’
‘No.’
That silence lasted nine seconds. Then Mum’s voice echoed into the still air:
‘Well, I think maybe we’d better start.’
3.
Ed
Ed was in the creatives’ room drinking coffee with Ronan when Sidney walked in. A man he vaguely recognized stood behind him; another of the Suits. In their sombre grey, with their end-of-the-world expressions, they resembled a pair of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
‘We’ve been looking for you.’
‘Well, you found us.’
‘Not Ronan, you.’
He studied them for a minute, waiting, then threw a red foam ball at the ceiling and caught it. He glanced sideways at Ronan. Investacorp had bought half-shares in the company a full eighteen months ago but they still thought of them as the Suits. It was one of the kinder things they called them in private.
‘Do you know a woman called Deanna Lewis?’
‘Why?’
‘Did you give her any information about the launch of the new software?’
‘What?’
‘It’s a simple question.’
Ed looked from one to the other. The atmosphere was strangely charged. His stomach, a packed elevator, began a slow descent towards his feet. ‘We may have chatted about work. No specifics that I remember.’
‘Deanna Lewis?’ said Ronan.
‘You need to be clear about this, Ed. Did you give her any information about the launch of SFAX?’
‘No. Maybe. What is this?’
‘The police are downstairs searching your office, with two goons from the Financial Services Authority. Her brother has been arrested for insider trading. On the basis of information that you gave them about the launch of the software.’
‘Ha-ha-ha! Funny.’
‘Deanna Lewis? Our Deanna Lewis?’ Ronan began to wipe his spectacles, a thing he did when he was feeling anxious.
‘Your Deanna Lewis?’
‘We knew her back in college.’
‘Did you now? Well, her brother’s hedge fund made two point six million dollars on the first day of trading. She alone cleared a hundred and ninety thousand on her personal account.’ They weren’t laughing.
‘Her brother’s hedge fund?’
‘Yes, his hedge fund.’
‘I don’t understand,’ Ronan said. ‘What is this?’
‘I’ll spell it out. Deanna Lewis is on record talking to her brother about Ed telling her about the launch of SFAX. She says Ed said it was going to be enormous. And guess what? Two days later her brother’s fund is among the biggest purchasers of shares. What exactly did you tell her?’
Ronan stared at him. Ed struggled to gather his thoughts. When he swallowed it was shamefully audible. Across the office the development team were peering over the tops of their cubicles. ‘I didn’t tell her anything.’ He blinked. ‘I don’t know. I might have said something. It’s not like it was a state secret.’
‘It was a f**king state secret, Ed. It’s called insider trading. She told him you gave her dates, times. She told him the company was going to make a fortune.’
‘Then she’s lying! Shooting her mouth off. We were … having a thing.’
‘You wanted to bone the girl, so you shot your mouth off to impress her?’
‘It wasn’t like that.’
‘You had sex with Deanna Lewis?’ Ed could feel Ronan’s myopic gaze burning into him.
Sidney lifted his hands, turned to the man behind him. ‘You need to call your lawyer.’
‘But how can I be in trouble? It’s not like I got any benefit from it.’
‘Michael Lewis’s hedge fund was the biggest single investor in Mayfly in the week before SFAX went live.’
‘I didn’t even know her brother had a hedge fund.’
Sidney glanced behind him. The faces suddenly found something interesting to look at on their desks. And he lowered his voice. ‘You have to go now. They want to interview you at the police station.’
‘What? This is nuts. I’ve got a meeting in twenty minutes. I’m not going to any police station.’
‘And obviously we’re suspending you until we’ve got to the bottom of this.’
Ed laughed at him. ‘Are you kidding me? You can’t suspend me. It’s my company.’ He threw the foam ball up in the air and caught it, turning away from them. Nobody moved. ‘I’m not going. This is our company. Tell them, Ronan.’
He looked at Ronan, but Ronan turned away. Ed looked at Sidney, who simply shook his head. Then he looked up at the two uniformed men who had appeared behind him, at his secretary, whose hand was at her mouth, at the carpet path already opening up between him and the office door, and the foam ball dropped silently onto the floor between his feet.