In December of 1966, a boy with a brutal father is reported missing from his home. The body of a journalist is found on a railway line and within days an escaped convict, with only a month of his sentence remaining, is found dead. The two men have connections with Blenheim Vale, a disused correctional facility for boys in Kidlington, soon to be redeveloped as a new police headquarters in a reorganization of the local forces to form the Thames Valley Police. Thursday and Morse's investigation lead to a property developer and corruption in high places including missing police evidence in Morse's last three investigations.