An old unsolved case that has dogged Joe for nine years is reopened when a young woman is drugged and assaulted at a local beach. The attack is carried out in much the same manner as the murders of two teenage girls nine years earlier, one of whom's necklace the new victim is inexplicably wearing. The suspect in those crimes avoided prosecution due to insufficient evidence but Joe is quick to tie in the new attack with the unsolved crimes and begins building a case against him. Tension mounts when evidence links the suspect to a missing person case, the latest victim falls prey to a suspicious accident that could prevent her testimony, and the investigation is hampered by mistakes that could destroy the case before it's even built. With the investigation unraveling, Nicole, whose ambitions to enroll in the Police Acadamy are in jeopardy thanks to an incident from her past, volunteers to go undercover, placing her life at risk to obtain a confession and ensure the killer's conviction.

The annual bowling match between Kingsway and Monterey detectives is interrupted by the week's eighth drug overdose. It appears a lethal batch of heroin has hit the streets causing the fatal overdoses. Surveillance of a suspect reveals a familiar face — Joe's former partner, Jack McCabe. Now working as a private investigator after leaving the police service prior to being forced out, Jack reveals he is working on a kidnapping case involving the wife of a local businessman. Jack doesn't care much for Harriet who is suspicious of Jack and the whole case. Seeing the kidnapped woman's husband with a girlfriend only heightens her suspicions and calls everyone's motives into question.