New boss Robert Strickland asks the team to reopen the case of David Barrie, a barrister found dead, bound and gagged, in his car in the 1980s. The case was a rare instance of officer-in-charge Ronnie Ross's not getting his man. Chief suspect Michael, now a transsexual called Michaela, had an alibi, but Michaela is involved with Elaine Wanless, a former brothel-keeper who reveals the dead man's penchant for bondage. The team is convinced that both know more about the death than they claim.

The UCOS team investigate the kidnapping of two 10-year-old boys over twenty years ago. Brian thinks it may be related to a current spate of kidnappings. What they know is that two boys, Daryl and Alan, were taken while fishing at an old pit. A few days later, they managed to escape unharmed, but the police never made an arrest in the case. One of the survivors agrees to undergo hypnosis, which reveals some additional clues. They soon learn that others fishing at the pit were either threatened or attacked over the years, including a champion fisherman who had held the record for catching the largest carp. As Brian spends more and more time by himself fishing at the pit, his wife, Esther, seeks Sandra Pullman's advice.