Is a missing woman a murderer?

Jo Masters tackles her first case as a Sergeant: the violent murder of a husband and father at the hands of a burglar. But it’s DC Grace Dasari who has to discover exactly what happened in a crime that has distinctly racial overtones…

Jo and Pc Leon Taylor are first to the scene of the murder of John Baker. His son, Ian, says someone broke in and attacked John. Wife and mother Tanisha is too shocked to say anything. But Grace discovers something that gets Tanisha talking – she’s been a missing person for 20 years. Tanisha admits she hid from her parents because they didn’t approve of her marriage to John.

Further investigations reveal that Tanisha and John haven’t lived happily ever after since their disappearing act. John had recently left Tanisha for another woman, Jenny Marton. But they rowed and he returned to Tanisha. Ian says his mother was terrified as John was a violent drunk and confesses to killing his father to protect his mother. That’s good enough for DS Max Carter – but not for Grace. Frustrated by Max’s ignorance, Grace points out that Tanisha would be feeling ashamed of her failed marriage – a marriage her parents never wanted in the first place. Then Tanisha says she killed John, not Ian…