At Ballarat military base a soldier is killed on a routine training exercise. Investigating the tragedy, Blake comes face to face with the new base commander, his old nemesis Major Derek Alderton.

A firefighter falls from the bell tower of the Ballarat fire station. While it initially looks like a suicide, Blake suspects foul play, but he can't find the evidence to prove it. At home, even now Mei Lin has moved out, things remain complicated.