Four young men "man" the new cars in the tough and troubled district of Newtown, a North of England overspill estate. A mixed community which are displaced from the larger towns by slum clearance, has been brought together and housed on an estate without amenities.
A girl has disappeared, and Steele and Lynch are faced by a conspiracy of silence that exists in the girl's broken family.
An explosion occurs in a quarry and it disturbs two lovers. When Detective Sergeant John Watt finds out what caused it, it disturbs him too!
D.S. Stone finds himself caught up in a dispute between militant workers and a determined management, but he is not a man to compromise.