France, 1964. At the exclusive Clos du Lac sanitarium, a man is discovered standing in the therapy pool: someone has chained him to the bottom, and left him there to slowly die. Inspector Lucas Rocco believes it to be an elaborate method of execution, but finds that the inhabitants of the Clos du Lac are unwilling to talk. Meanwhile, ministry officials sent from Paris to 'assist' in the investigation attempt to impede Rocco's efforts to find answers. It soon becomes clear that the Clos du Lac 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.