A headteacher is bludgeoned to death and a volatile black teenager is arrested: as far as DCI Michael Thackeray is concerned, that's it, case closed. But when his long-term girlfriend, Laura Ackroyd, begins looking into the investigation for a newspaper article she's working on, some disturbing facts come to light that cause the case against the accused teenager to crumble at an alarming rate. Could there be a sinister reason behind his speedy arrest?