Jackson Brodie sees the body of a woman floating face down in the water and dives in after her. He can't quite reach her and she drifts away. He can describe her however and noted that she was wearing unique earrings in the style of an Eastern Orthodox cross. Meanwhile, Jackson and another man, Martin Canning, see someone being severely beaten with a baseball bat. Martin accompanies the victim, Paul Bradley, to the hospital and then agrees to spend the next 24 hours with him to ensure he doesn't lapse into a coma. At the same hospital, dominatrix Tatiana delivers her client, Graham Hatter, who has suffered a severe heart attack. There she meets meets Hatter's wife Gloria. When Jackson sees Tatiana, he sees a resemblance to the woman he saw in the water. Jackson's personal life meanwhile is in turmoil and the time has come to decide if he will let his ex-wife take his daughter to New Zealand.
—garykmcd