 Bill Preece is a runaway from a childcare facility who finds work in a local factory. He has no place to stay so the foreman, Stuart Grady, offers him his sofa for a night. A dispute with the landlady leads to her being killed and Bill soon drags his new friend into a spiral of crime. He especially wants to exact revenge against those he feels treated him badly as a foster child. Fitz soon realizes that two people are committing the murders, though he believes the perpetrators to be a man and a woman. With the new baby at home, Judith decides that it s time to put herself first. The police are still recovering from the death of one of their own and Jane Penhaligon in particular is still having difficulty coping.