Tijdens wegenwerken wordt het lichaam van een tienermeisje gevonden, langs de snelweg van de M1 en die reeds rond de eeuwwisseling als vermist was opgegeven. Vier bekenden van het slachtoffer, komen als mogelijke betrokkenen in het dossier naar boven. Vanaf de bekendmaking komen hun onderlinge relaties onder extreme druk te staan.

Cassie and Sunny go in search of Hayley's family as the press begin to take an interest in the story. A detective who was involved in the original investigation offers his thoughts on why her disappearance remained unsolved, pointing out that Hayley's boyfriend was suspected of the crime but was never charged. The distance between where Hayley was last seen and where her body was found leads Cassie to form a new theory - that the killer may have travelled up from London, then returned before they could be questioned.

Cassie and Sunny begin their interviews...

It becomes clear to the detectives that the four men have conspired to come up with a false account of what took place the night Hayley disappeared. Jake is assigned to track down Tim Finch's ex-wife to hear her version of events - and uncovers disturbing information about Chris Lowe's past. On a personal front, Sunny is offered the opportunity to rekindle his past marriage, and Cassie worries about her father's failing memory.

James, Tim and Chris are exposed as having lied about their whereabouts on the night Hayley died. Pete reveals that he saw Eliot climbing into the holiday home through a window on New Year's Day, while leaves James struggling with the possibility that his son may have killed Hayley. Fran cracks a code in the dead girl's diary, suggesting that she met a local drug dealer on the night she disappeared.

Following the discovery of seemingly incriminating items found at his house, Tim insists he bought them for his girls at a fete in Middenham. However, the team are not buying Tim's story. A new discovery leaves the team shocked and devastated, hitting Cassie particularly hard.