With his career and access to the Stevie case resting on the outcome of his psychiatric report, River must keep his unofficial investigations into Stevie's death to himself. This sends tensions high with his new partner Ira, who fears being dragged down by River's instability, and Chrissie, who needs River working on his own caseload, most pressingly investigating a suspicious workplace accident that has left a foreman fighting for his life.

But River's mind is elsewhere as the discovery that Stevie has been keeping secrets forces him to reassess how well he knew his best friend and colleague. Unearthing new information about who Stevie spoke with in the lead-up to her murder throws suspicion on somebody close to her - somebody with real motive.

Following the murder in the public library, River and Ira must track down the killer. Their journey takes them deep into the world of the undocumented migrant community in London, a world of international hostels and immigration lawyers. They begin to get a sense of what it was that Stevie might have been unravelling before she died. Was it these investigations she was punished for?
And as River finds himself back at the hearing voices group, an unfortunate contribution leads to River being drawn closer to Rosa, his colleague and counsellor. But as River finally finds some solace, Ira is led into the heart of the storm, and the spotlight is thrown onto somebody with an awful lot to lose.