The paralyzed daughter of local farmers Sue and Jamie Blackstone finds she is able to walk again after being taken to a tree known as 'the healer' in Wetherton woods. However, the joy is short lived when an excavation to determine the tree's integrity yields the remains of a young girl who disappeared more than forty years ago from a children's home. As Dalziel and Pascoe track down the manager of the home, a local church priest – Father Leonard Tibbings – they discover a systematic chain of abuse by Tibbings and the church, which involved splitting up siblings, including identical twins, and making youngsters work for no pay on farmland belonging to the church. As Pascoe attempts to locate the whereabouts of another missing girl, Dalziel is tied up when he bumps into his sister in the nearby village, only to discover that she is dying of cancer - and that he has a brother.
