Barlow's first day at Thamesford is rounded off with a telephone call that involves him in his first major investigation as head of C.I.D.
The officers of No 1 District Task Force are summoned to Thamesford HQ.
Routine enquiries into a series of minor break-ins become a major hunt for a dangerous criminal.
Career criminal Sid Stannish is in the frame for a series of minor break-ins, but would he really risk a further conviction for the sake of such minor hauls?
Two young boys get into trouble at a football match. Barlow, Watt and the Task Force try to protect them from the consequences of their actions.
A worried barman asks John Watt why a detective constable is asking questions about him. Watt makes some alarming discoveries about the constable in question.
Watt claims there is no such thing as an open and shut case, but Hawkins insists that there is.
A whisper from the north of England leads the Task Force to Eastcote Docks. A domestic dispute takes them to the nearby caravan site at Bathgate. But what is the link between the two incidents?
Barlow is pursuing the hint of an armed robbery. Hawkins and Jackson are tackling another in a series of Thursday night thefts. But there is something different about this particular Friday.
Chief Constable Cullen sees the need to seek the assistance of the press.
Barlow and Watt are on the look-out for a reclusive individual to assist them with their inquiries into a diabolical crime.