Imprisoned for seven years for killing his fiancée's lover, now Guy Rainer has escaped, and Detective Inspector Martineau is on his trail.

Martineau had sent Guy down. Now it's his job to find the escaped prisoner. But in the midst of the hunt for the killer, Martineau is faced with another problem: a nine-year-old girl, Dessie Kegan, has disappeared. Has Dessie been murdered? Has Guy Rainer taken her, for reasons of his own?

Martineau has to work fast - and he knows it.