Three young girls go missing in 2012 in separate and unconnected circumstances. Their disappearances are investigated, but the girls are never found. Ten years later, DCI Priest receives a confession to their murders from a prisoner already serving time in HMP Manchester. The prisoner is willing to lead DCI Priest to their bodies, but he wants something in return. After a pivotal milestone, and despite the confession, the evidence starts to unravel. DCI Priest initially assumed this was an open and shut case. He could not have been more wrong.