When skeletal remains of a female are found in Thatcher's Lot, Loston CID is involved and DI Sally Speckle and her team investigate. The remains have been in the ground for five years - disturbingly, there were several women who went missing around that time. The missing women come from divergent backgrounds, but the skull has evidence of expensive dental care which Sally hopes will help to identify the remains. However, due to DC Helen Rochester's astuteness, the other women come into focus and unlikely suspects emerge. Now it starts to become a murder investigation within a murder investigation.