While returning from visiting his young son, Kruz, in France, Whitstable local and former soldier Dan Tomlin crashes his car. When he wakes in the hospital, Dan learns that Kruz had been hiding in the trunk of his vehicle—and he"s now gone missing. With his ex-wife accusing him of kidnapping their son, Dan hires Pearl to track him down, and she teams up with Mike to find the missing boy.

Laid up at home with a broken ankle, Mike passes time by observing his neighbors in the complex across the way. After witnessing one man"s violent night terrors, Mike becomes convinced that his supposed episodes are part of a plot to murder his wife. When Mike"s police colleagues dismiss his concerns, he hires Pearl to do the legwork he can"t.

After inheriting a beloved local pub from her mother, Molly Stratton puts it up for sale to the highest bidder, rather than selling it back to the community. She turns to Pearl for help to deal with the anonymous threats she's been receiving--including a dead seagull on her doorstep. When the pub is sold, the situation takes an even darker turn.

When 1970s movie icon Zelda St John changes her will, leaving her fortune to her housekeeper, Natalia, the young woman seeks out Pearl, fearing that Zelda's family might hurt her. Not long afterward, Zelda is found unconscious at her home, attacked with a croquet mallet, and Natalia disappears. Clashing over who they believe is responsible, Mike and Pearl lead separate investigations.

Mysterious happenings at Dolly's (shower left running, smoke alarms going off, money missing) has Pearl worried about her mother's state of mind. Meanwhile a burglary has Mike determined not to involve Pearl at any cost.