When a man is found hanged, Dr Paige and DI Cramer discover a suicide note and a blackmail note, and their investigations revive memories of the village publican's son who disappeared six years before.

Dr Paige is called to attend Bailey, a paranoid police informant held at a safe house. But Bailey's paranoia proves correct and Cramer suffers when the bu I lets start to fly.

DI Cramer's life is in the balance following the shooting, and when Dr Paige confirms a hitchhiker's death, skin found under the fingernails links him to a number of previous murders.