Despite an unsolved break-in at the station house, Murdoch announces he's taking a vacation. His holiday turns out to be a trip in response to a telegram from Dr. Ogden requesting his help in Buffalo to solve what she thinks is a murder at The Children's Hospital. Murdoch agrees to go - thoughts of rekindling their relationship in the back of his mind. The case involves a 14-year-old terminally ill boy, Ben Wilkie, who has died under what Ogden feels are mysterious circumstances, not his cancer.

Murdoch investigates a case involving a young French woman who arrived in Toronto to visit her sister and then vanished without a trace. He is assisted by Detective Marcel Guillaume, recently arrived from Paris.

Note: Guillaume is the real-life inspiration for author Georges Simenon's main character, Inspector Maigret.