Lynley is at a birthday party for the young son of some friends when the boy disappears. Twelve years later the boy's corpse is found and Lynley travels to Rome to accompany the dead boy's sister back to England for the funeral. However, the past seems to haunt her, and a break-in at her apartment leads Lynley to suspect that the 12-year old crime is still reverberating through the victim's family. At the same time, Lynley is also dealing with the death of Helen -- and not too well, tending to drown his sorrows rather than deal with the loss.