Two elderly brothers are found dead in their home, with no apparent injuries. When conducting the postmortem, Sam discovers puncture marks on their chests, as if something had been injected into their hearts, causing heart attacks. When the police have a suspect, Sam isn't convinced and believes that someone else is responsible.

When two snow-boarders cause an avalanche on a ski slope in Norway, the rescue team also discover the naked body of a woman. John Taylor informs the Townsends that the police think it could be their daughter, Ruth, who went missing a few weeks ago. His lawyer is also working with Sam on another case, and he tells Sam about it. Sam goes to the postmortem, where it is discovered that she has been murdered, but that it isn't Ruth Townsend.

When the naked body of a young woman is found in the snow at a Norwegian ski resort, Sam Ryan is asked to represent the Townsend family whose daughter Ruth disappeared there several weeks before The autopsy however reveals that it is in fact the body of Louise Hutton who had vanished there some 15 years previously. When Ruth's body is subsequently found, it appears both girls were strangled in a similar fashion. The police focus their enquiries on Ruth's boyfriend and on Henry Hutton, Louise's uncle while Sam seeks the advice of a university colleague and tries to draw a profile of the serial killer.

The director of a school arrives home and hears a shot. He finds his wife dead - it looks like suicide, but Sam thinks it is murder and so does the mother of the victim. Sam is also asked to investigate the death of a nun fifty years ago to see if there is proof a miracle has happened so the nun can be made a saint.