In the aftermath of the tragic search to find Stephen's body, Stone starts doubting himself. Could the killer still be at large? And what, if anything, was Stephen trying to hide from his son? To answer these questions, Stone and Hattersley will have to work back from the start.

Stone focuses on a new case, this time concerning Stephen Eli, a lawyer who disappeared from his family one year ago. Almost immediately, Stone is convinced he knows the criminal responsible: a serial killer already confined to a mental institution.

Chasing a new lead, Stone rescues one of the killer's abductees and inches closer to identifying him. But because of his brusque manner, Stone must now battle a formal complaint lodged by another detective.

After brilliant but socially inept DS Sean Stone ruins a police press conference, he's demoted from homicide to the Missing Persons Bureau. Will his lack of social graces get in the way of finding a missing teenager who frequents a pro-suicide message board?