Part I:Creegan returns to duty against official orders as Anthony Matchin, a man he helped convict for killing his wife,is released from prison on appeal,returning to his home town of Ellandon. Shortly afterwards a woman's corpse is found ,her heart cut out neatly and left in a nearby garbage bag. The OSC travels to the area as Creegan is convinced that Matchin is not the murderer,only to receive little help from the local force,unhappy at the OSC's intervention.Part II:A second victim is discovered,slain in exactly the same fashion as the first and earning the murderer the tag of the Garbage Bag Killer. Creegan concludes that although the women's husbands were from vastly different walks of life,the killer's motive was not due to hatred of the women but of the men that they left behind - leading him to grief counsellor Michael Lawlor,before another,shocking murder robs the unit of one of their own.