Ex-vicar Lionel Lawrence believes that everyone deserves a second chance, which is why he decides to open the old rectory to a stream of young offenders. All Lionel wants is to help these poor lost souls to find the right path - he has no idea that the consequences of his good deed will include blackmail, murder and a missing teenager. But Chief Inspector Barnaby is sure he knows who's behind the worrying disappearance of Lionel's latest young charge - a defiantly elusive suspect he's convinced is the incarnation of evil.