Dr. John Bradshaw is a scholar who is writing a book on the life of Richard Lavendar, a former prime minister, long retired and almost forgotten. When he enlists Coffin's help to research his subject, Coffin uncovers a deadly secret. On a visit to Lavendar, he hears the respected politician confess that his father was a serial killer, and that as a boy he had helped to bury one of the victims. Lavendar, on his deathbed, is repentant and requests that Coffin find the body. When a young journalist who has been digging around in Lavendar's past is murdered, it appears that the sins of the past and present are coming together with terrifying speed.