The officer didn’t even glance at it. “Right this way, Mr. Tirov,” he said, leading the way. They came to an unmarked door off the entry hall; the man opened it with a key and held it for him. “Please have a seat,” he said. “Someone will be with you shortly.” He handed Tirov his passport and closed the door behind him.

Tirov found himself in a small room with a table and three chairs, all of which were steel and bolted to the floor. The walls were gray and blank, and it seemed a good deal warmer than the air in the entry hall. Fifteen minutes passed, and Tirov took off his jacket and hung it on the back of his chair.

Another ten minutes passed, and Tirov was beginning to sweat. A door on the opposite side of the room from the one he had entered opened and a man in a dark suit with a briefcase entered and sat down. “Good evening, Mr. Tirov,” he said. “I am Special Agent Martini of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. May I see your passport, please?”

Tirov retrieved the document from his jacket pocket and handed it over. “FBI? What is this about?”

“One moment, please.” The agent inspected the passport carefully, opened it to a blank page, removed a large rubber stamp and an ink pad from his briefcase, and carefully stamped the page. He then took a red marking pen and drew a diagonal line across the page containing Tirov’s name and photograph. Finally, he handed back the document.

Tirov opened it to the stamped page and read the message: This passport is not valid for exit from any port of entry of the United States of America without the written permission of the Director of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Attorney General of the United States.

“What the hell does this mean?” Tirov demanded.

The agent tucked his stamp and pen into his briefcase, removed an envelope and handed it to Tirov. “Read this, please, in my presence.”

Tirov opened the envelope, removed a letter, and read it. It was on the letterhead of the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement:

To: Boris Tirov

Dear Mr. Tirov:

When you applied for permanent residence in the United States some eight years ago, you completed and signed a form and made a sworn statement that you had never committed a crime in your country of origin, nor had you ever been arrested, nor had a warrant ever been issued for your arrest. It has come to the attention of this Bureau that an arrest warrant on a charge of murder had been issued shortly before your departure from the Russian Republic, and that the warrant remains open and in force.