旧金山警探弗兰克·康纳（安迪·加西亚 Andy Garcia 饰）正在疯狂地寻找与儿子骨髓相吻合的人，生命垂危的儿子因患白血病而急需骨髓移植。几经周折，弗兰克终于找到了合适的配型，然而这位相吻合的人居然是杀人犯彼得·麦凯布（迈克尔·基顿 Michael Keaton 饰）。起初断然拒绝的麦凯布，在见到弗兰克儿子之后居然很快答应了下来。
就在手术当天，弗兰克的上司卡西迪（布莱恩·考克斯 Brian Cox 饰）亲临现场监督。然而就在手术开始的一刹那，预谋已久的麦凯布居然从手术台上一跃而起，将弗兰克的儿子挟持作为人质。为了儿子的一线生机，弗兰克说服了卡西迪，单独进入病房与麦凯布交涉。然而事态并非像想象中简单，为求逃脱的麦凯布走投无路下劫持了一辆汽车，逃之夭夭。
Lewis returns to Oxford after several years absence and is reluctantly assigned by his new boss, DCS Innocent, to the murder of an Oxford mathematics student who was shot while participating in a sleep study. The key-code used to access the sleep lab was assigned to a fellow maths student, Daniel Griffin, but Daniel's math tutor has provided him with an alibi. Daniel is a maladjusted young man who will soon inherit his father's automotive empire. He is disruptive and has no respect for his uncle who now heads the company. The future of the company however rests on an impending deal with Japanese investors who insist that family unity is all important at this time. When two other murder occurs, Lewis must decipher a cryptic clue left in an old case file by his former boss, Chief Inspector Morse.
