When Orla Payne was seven years old, her brother, Callum, mysteriously vanished. Shrouded in complicated family matters, namely their parents' divorce and the suicide of their uncle, there were no clear leads or possible reasons. The case was eventually dismissed, as the police concluded their uncle killed himself out of guilt over murdering Callum, despite the fact that his body was never found. Twenty years later, Orla is still convinced that her uncle was innocent and wants to find out the truth. Through working at the residential library, a position she took in order to be near the Hanging Wood where these events too place, Orla comes across Hannah Scarlett's name on historian Daniel Kind's recommendation. She frantically contacts Hannah, but her alcohol-induced frenzy leaves Hannah confused over her piece-meal description on the phone. Hannah initially drops the case. But when Orla is found dead, she reconsiders, partly out of sense of duty and partly out of guilt, and decides to reopen this once closed case to investigate.