When the fourth child in four years becomes the victim of a serial killer, Detective Mike Ceretzke of the Edmonton Police Service is on the scene to investigate.

Then Chuck Albright, a television cameraman, is killed and thrown in the North Saskatchewan River. Perhaps reporter Richard Tanner has carried through on his threat to secure Chuck's silence. Or maybe Chuck stumbled onto proof of the credit card scam they were investigating, thus becoming a threat to the ringleaders.

Determined to prove himself innocent and to use Chuck's death to guarantee greater fame, Richard searches for background information. Instead of glowing reports of Chuck's character, he finds false identities and evidence that Chuck is the child killer police have been seeking.

Chuck's friends rally to save his reputation, while the victims' families applaud his killer as a hero. Official police policy says all victims deserve justice, however, when the killer has murdered children justifying punishment for his executioner is difficult for some officers.

Detective Ceretzke and Richard Tanner form an uncomfortable alliance and battle through the differing attitudes surrounding Chuck's death in their search for the truth.