Blake is called to a prisoner on death row who is delirious. The prisoner, Sean McBride, confessed to a murder long ago and pleaded guilty. But in McBride's delirium, Blake hears him say he didn't do it. With a signed confession, and with McBride maintaining his guilt when he recovers, Blake faces a struggle to find proof and convince Lawson that McBride should not hang. Meanwhile, outside the prison in Ballarat, tensions run high about the rights and wrongs of capital punishment and Blake finds himself out of his depth.

Doctor Blake is called to Patrick Tyneman's shoe factory where a migrant worker has died using one of the machines. Initially it looks like an industrial accident, and Blake's enmity towards Tyneman leads to a showdown about safety practices and worker exploitation. But when the dust settles, Blake looks more closely into the politics and relationships of the workforce and begins to suspect foul play.