A man is found dead near his home with a pitchfork through his neck. When DCI Guillermo Downes is called to the scene he realizes the victim is well known to him. A decade earlier, Downes made a promise to the families of two missing girls that he would find their daughters. Although cleared of any involvement, the dead man had been a suspect in their disappearance. And as the ripples from his death spread through the local community it happens to offer fresh hope that the detective might finally make good on his promise. But as Downes, tormented by his own troubled past, pursues the case alongside a new partner, Sergeant Graves, it soon becomes clear to them both that there's a darkness at the heart of the investigation more dreadful than either could ever have imagined. As past and present bind ever more tightly, Downes and Graves are forced to confront a terrible truth that lies just beneath the surface.