A murdered policewoman, a convicted thief, and a priceless painting, lost forever, or left hiding in plain sight.

On the day an infamous thief and callous murderer is due to be released, DCI Tanner is given the task of overseeing the operation. But when the prisoner is abducted at gunpoint, only to be found tortured to death the very next day, Tanner finds himself asking why, especially when two men arrive from the National Gallery, demanding to know where the priceless painting was, the same one the dead man had taken some thirty years before.