On a stormy night out on the Yorkshire moors, Dalziel's car breaks down on the way back from a charity do, leaving him stranded for the evening. As he finds the comfort of a local B&B, his peace is shattered by the discovery of the body of local barmaid Sally, having been murdered and dumped. Meanwhile, category A prisoner Charlie Walker has managed to escape from police custody, and is determined to prove he wasn't responsible for the murder of his wife, Kate, which he was convicted of - although no body has ever been found. As the pieces begin to fit together of the night of Sally's death, Dalziel uncovers a ring of dirty Yorkshire businessmen tied up in the dangerous world of dogfighting, and the seven-year-old frozen body of Kate turns up at the same crime scene. As the final piece of evidence slowly falls into place, Dalziel heads to a showdown between father and son-in-law.
