Pascoe is rushed to hospital with serious injuries following a car crash, and slips into a coma. Dalziel keeps a vigil at his bedside and realises just how much his partner means to him. Meanwhile, when a local fisherman reels in a gruesome catch – a human foot – and police divers discover other body parts amongst illegally dumped waste in a nearby lake, Dalziel finds himself at the centre of a potential murder enquiry.

As the case unravels, Dalziel discovers an uneasy relationship between Wetherton's leading hospital physician, Dr McKenzie Mansfield, and neurology consultant Mr Alisdair Collinson, not to mention a snake pit of political wranglings with local business tycoon, and the main source of the hospital's funding, Barry Jemmerson. Dalziel finds himself torn between trying to cope with Pascoe's continuing deterioration and his duty as a policeman to throw himself into this very intricate and gruesome case.

Pascoe is rushed to hospital with serious injuries following a car crash, and slips into a coma. Dalziel keeps a vigil at his bedside and realises just how much his partner means to him. Meanwhile, when a local fisherman reels in a gruesome catch – a human foot – and police divers discover other body parts amongst illegally dumped waste in a nearby lake, Dalziel finds himself at the centre of a potential murder enquiry. As the case unravels, Dalziel discovers an uneasy relationship between Wetherton's leading hospital physician, Dr McKenzie Mansfield, and neurology consultant Mr Alisdair Collinson, not to mention a snake pit of political wranglings with local business tycoon, and the main source of the hospital's funding, Barry Jemmerson. Dalziel finds himself torn between trying to cope with Pascoe's continuing deterioration and his duty as a policeman to throw himself into this very intricate and gruesome case.

A corpse of a man was found in a cage with a tiger in a zoo, and everything indicates that this death was a murder. Dalzil and Pascoe are investigating and are facing an old unsolved murder case that happened at this zoo 24 years ago. Peter meets with Ellie and Rosie, who arrived in Yorkshire, and asks them not to leave.

At an archaeological site, a relatively fresh skeleton of a man is found. During the investigation conflict erupts between the archaeologists and local builders. Are the cost cutting antics of the local council somehow tied to the find? Or is it the underhand dealings of the contractors? Elsewhere, Dalziel is positively smitten by the new pathologist, Eleanor Brown.

The investigation concludes.

Mary Jackson witnesses the abduction of a schoolgirl. She tried to stop the kidnapper and was also abducted. On the same day, Pascoe witnesses how a machine tries to bring down a rich woman. The next day, he and Dalzil begin an investigation into the murder of a young music teacher who taught a kidnapped girl.

Mary Jackson witnesses the abduction of a schoolgirl. She tried to stop the kidnapper and was also abducted. On the same day, Pascoe witnesses how a machine tries to bring down a rich woman. The next day, he and Dalzil begin an investigation into the murder of a young music teacher who taught a kidnapped girl.