Black police constable Nigel Spenser arrests suspect Makin in the early hours of the morning and then finds himself faced with a brutality charge. Paul Dangerfield is faced with an ethical dilemma when Spenser's superior, DI Ken Jackson, puts pressure on him to help get Nigel off.

Paul's son Marty gets caught up in an accidental shooting which results in the death of local farmer Hilton. Matters are further complicated when Joanna misdiagnoses the Keen's colicky baby whose father, mentally ill Roger, is the man who worked for the deceased Hilton and whom DI Jackson suspects of the killing.

Paul Dangerfield promises to keep a deadly secret - for 24 hours. Stephen Millwood, an old patient of Paul's, is accused of committing arson to claim the insurance money to support his family. Arrested for murder and arson, Stephen tells Paul that he admitted to the crime that his wife Angie really committed. Stephen tells Paul he has AIDS but his first concern is his daughter Sophie, who is about to take an important exam. He persuades Dangerfield to speak to an unconvinced Ken Jackson to get him bail so he can return home.

The first of a two-part story.

The second part of a two-part tale.

When it emerges that heart attack victim William Burford has videotaped a murder, Paul Dangerfield and Ken Jackson are faced with a complex moral dilemma. Deciding it best to protect the dead man's wife Lesley and their kids Claire and Michael because he was clearly a 'Peeping Tom', Jackson destroys the videotape. However his actions come back to haunt him when he later learns from Paul that a murdered woman, Susan Wainwright, might have been on the video.