At eight thirty a.m. Kudus came into Taylor’s office, handed her a printout from the news archive: LA Times, March 2, 2009. The front page was dominated by a picture of Barack Obama, but a column on the right carried the headline: Mystery over doctor’s suicide. Family of US govt psychologist demand answers.

“Dr. Jack Moretti,” Kudus said. “As we know, he died July twenty-nine, 2008, age thirty-eight. Buried Cedar Lawn Memorial Park, California. All that’s uncontroversial. It’s not easy finding out further details, but someone’s had a go.” Kudus tapped the printout. It was dated seven months after Moretti’s death, a follow-up story.

“A journalist did some digging. So, we’ve got a few additional facts: Moretti hanged himself in a wasteground behind a couple of foreclosed homes in Antelope Valley. His parents demanded answers, because nothing made sense to them. He’d been happy, then he hangs himself. Why? Where had he been that day? Why was he in Antelope Valley?

“Turns out he’d been there for work. He hadn’t been physically based at the hospital for a couple of years. The work address they’re given is 1349 El Monte Road, Los Altos Hills. That’s the official address used for a facility called Lake Ravenna. It’s a secure site sixty miles into the desert, run by the US Air Force. A very secure one.”

“Okay.” Taylor had the distinct sensation of slipping into the black side, both ominous and promising.

“They ask to collect his belongings from this place and are told, in no uncertain terms, that that’s not possible. Eventually they do receive a bag of belongings, but items are missing. Moretti’s family hire a lawyer to represent them—Charles Becker, from the firm Markman, Becker, and Reith. Becker steps in, requests the police file, then when that’s refused, he goes sideways, presses for information relating to any other suicides connected to Lake Ravenna. This is blocked, but the pressure he’s exerting has an effect. To get him off their back, the military eventually release a pathology report. And it puts Moretti’s death at July twenty-nine, six days before the family were informed. Turns out it wasn’t handled by the police at all—it was the US Air Force Office of Special Investigations.”

Taylor felt the story darken further. The OSI provided independent investigative services outside of the traditional military chain of command. They covered everything too sensitive for the regular teams: national security issues, espionage, terrorism. She brought up a map of Lake Ravenna on her PC.

The lake itself was an unreal turquoise, blank and flat, shaped like a kidney. The facility that took its name extended to the west. Taylor wondered why she couldn’t see fences, then realized she was looking at less than a tenth of it.