Eilish Burke's two-year-old son Conal is abducted, apparently by her ex-husband Padraig, though her family are unpopular locally as they are travellers with form and Jack's lazy superior has already given the child up as dead. Gerry, Jack's corrupt father, is subject to a tribunal for past misdemeanours when he was a Garda sergeant and Jack's girlfriend Maggie, the local doctor, supports Eilish and is concerned for Gerry's health. However, she has kept quiet about Padraig's drug addiction, to Jack's annoyance. Having prevented Gerry from doctoring evidence he traces Padraig through his drug-dealer but Conal is not with him.