Pub landlord Roly Henderson is accused of stabbing to death his wife Joanne in her sleep and cutting off her little finger. DI Kate Warren is anxious to convict,under pressure from her father a deputy chief constable,to further her career but Clarissa and Nikki find proof of Roly's innocence and his little daughter Emma recalls seeing a strange man in the pub. Nikki visits Simon Marshall,convicted of killing his wife Eleanor four years earlier as her finger was also chopped off after death. Simon tells Nikki his wife was murdered by a biker and Nikki and Jack find evidence to support his story. Nikki believes this man killed Joanne,Eleanor and a third victim,Imogen Lane,who married the older policeman Alan who rescued her from her pimp when she was a teen-aged prostitute. Alan was convicted of his wife's death but is now released. Imogen's mother Edith hated Alaan,believing he killed her husband as well as her daughter,whom she feared he would harm. Edith is unaware that she is being shadowed by Janice Masters,a single parent who also has a little finger missing.