A frozen corpse has just been discovered at the bottom of a cabin. This is the body of Katie Pine, a teenager who has been missing for several months. Because he had been instructed to investigate the disappearance of this girl, it is John Cardinal, who will conduct the investigations. Against the will of the inspector who prefers to work alone, Lisa Delorme, a detective specialized in financial crimes but a novice in homicide, is appointed to assist him. Cardinal investigates several unresolved cases of missing children, and quickly becomes convinced that murder of Katie Pine was perpetrated by a serial killer...
Cardinal and Delorme attend Todd Curry’s autopsy in Toronto. It’s a stressful balancing act for Delorme, trying to help Cardinal catch a murderer while feeling the pressure from her Special Investigations Sergeant Malcolm Musgrave to ramp up her investigation into her partner. The autopsy confirms Cardinal’s hunch about the connection between the murders of Todd Curry and Katie Pine, and the pair return to Algonquin Bay as Dyson tries to make amends with the community for the botched investigation into Katie Pine’s disappearance. Investigating the case together, Delorme tries to gain Cardinal’s trust to help her investigation. She lucks into an opportunity to tail Cardinal and takes it, against Musgrave’s orders. She discovers that he’s laundering money through a nearby casino – but has Cardinal discovered her as well?
After a prominent Algonquin Bay politician, Sheila Gagne, reports her prosecutor husband missing, Cardinal and Delorme quickly discover that the man has been abducted. A botched extortion attempt results in the death of their only suspect in the case, but they can’t find a connection between the victims. Whoever has taken Sheila’s husband sends her a video of him begging for his life but doesn’t ask for ransom. Delorme tells Cardinal that she’s taking a job in Toronto, and they both struggle with the idea of parting ways. The prosecutor is found dead, tethered out in a remote clear-cut and left to freeze to death.