Following the disastrous raid Helen is suspended but she tells Banks that her colleague Trethowan reentered the house after the event, leading them both to surmise, correctly, that he was covering up for his girlfriend, the policewoman who Tasered Peter Doyle and Helen is exonerated. Meanwhile Kitson takes Tracy to Jenkins' house, where he intends to hold her as a hostage in return for the gun. However Jenkins ultimately admits to Banks that he is terminally ill and the reappearance of his long-lost illegitimate son, by whom he wanted to do right before dying, angered Kitson to the point of murder . Tracy is ultimately returned to her father.

After the unidentified body of a woman is found on some waste ground, the team find themselves becoming involved in the world of vice in a town where nobody is happy to talk. Banks also has to deal with a personal tragedy.

The officers are dismayed to learn the arson attack on the Osgoods' house has injured Michael and killed his son Robbie, and local bully Gary McCready is soon questioned. As the investigation into Katrin's murder continues, the body of an older man who died of natural causes is found buried near her grave, and when Banks suspects Jason McCready abducted missing Annika, he uncovers a shocking secret. Meanwhile, the detective gives a moving speech at his mother's funeral, and the ceremony brings him closer to his father.