It is late at night on a notorious high-rise estate in the London borough of Hackney, and a white van is being driven erratically. The driver is pulled over by the police and questioned.

A woman on the street after a long night of drinking never makes it home. A suspect . . . an arrest . . . a confession. . . . A case closed?

Five years earlier, a 13-year-old girl disappeared in broad daylight on a busy London street. Detective Chief Superintendent James Langton headed the investigation, but the case was never closed. It has haunted him ever since. And now there's a confession to this murder, and to yet another. Is it too good to be true? Detective Chief Inspector Anna Travis is pulled into the fray by her mentor and friend, and she isn't so sure that they have their man.

Then the suspect changes his story. . . .