A construction worker finds the skeleton of a dead boy. He was Noland's last case before being promoted - a case that was never solved. Now Noland devotes all his efforts to putting an end to this crime. They finally arrest the boy's mother, who also killed another son of hers. Meanwhile, Mannion tries to change the child abuse scenario in the city. Nick negotiates a possible candidature of Mannion's for the upcoming mayor election. Ella has to fire an old employee but manages to keep him. Parras has trouble dealing with an abusive father that reminds her of her own father until proven that this father never touched his problematic 14-year-old son.

After Nancy discovers a murdered homeless man, Mannion notices that the body has a distinct military tattoo. He identifies the man as a former Marine believed to have been held prisoner in a Vietnamese camp. They soon learn that the victim may have been one of many POWs returned to the United States in the 1980s after the government stated that there were no prisoners left in Vietnam. As Mannion delves further into the case, he must battle the demons that continue to haunt him from his time in Vietnam.