 When 75-year old Millicent Lockwood is found brutally beaten to death in a local park, the police immediately focus on a local who was seen arguing with her a short time earlier. The autopsy reveals little evidence but Sam Ryan once again refuses to make the evidence they do have fit the suspect, which leads to an inevitable clash with the police. She also sees two youths, Kelvin Price and Ben Quayle, act out part of the murder. The police however are pursuing other lines of inquiry and don t have the time, nor the inclination, to pursue Sam s theories. She then sets off on her own investigation.