The man was standing on the bottom of the therapy pool in the Clos du Lac sanitarium, his white cotton shirt billowing out like gossamer in the clear, blue water. France, 1964. At the exclusive Clos du Lac sanitarium, a man is discovered standing in the therapy pool. But he's not there for his health; someone has chained him to the bottom, and left him there to slowly die. Inspector Lucas Rocco believes it's an unusual and elaborate method of execution, but finds that the inhabitants of the Clos du Lac are unwilling to talk. Nobody seems to have heard or seen anything, and the staff are resolutely unhelpful - or dead. Meanwhile, ministry officials sent from Paris to 'assist' in the investigation attempt to impede Rocco's efforts to find answers. It soon becomes clear the Clos du Lac is no ordinary sanitarium, and holds secrets the authorities feel are better left hidden. And with a high-level kidnapping mounted in an attempt to derail France's new trade agreements with China, Rocco faces threats from more than one quarter ...one of them a rogue government assassin.