 Virgil Tibbs spots young woman, Lauren Casey, on the bank of the creek half in, half out of the water. She has been beaten badly. Taken to the hospital, Lauren describes a black man as the attacker, who is similar to a local man, Jimmy Dawes. Brought in for questioning, Dawes is released for lack of evidence. Bill Gillespie does not believe Lauren. Throughout the investigation, Virgil suffers horrifying flashbacks to his childhood along the creek. Bill solves the case with the help of Althea.