[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/i086419_7854.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"We can all learn something about collegiality from each other."]]

-> '''Lynley''': ''[uncomfortable]'' Helen and I...
-> '''Havers''': ''[determined to be ignorant]'' Sir?
-> '''Lynley''': ...Staying friends...what do you think about it? Really?
-> '''Havers''': [[BlatantLies I don't think about it]].
-> '''Lynley''': ''[Wishing this to be true]'' Good. That's what I said.

Promising young law student Emily Proctor is found murdered in Hyde Park. Despite being on leave, Lynley joins Havers in the investigation. They find out that until four months before her death, Emily had been working as an intern at the chamber of Tony Wainwright, a top human rights lawyer. Although Wainwright had been Emily’s mentor and idol, he and his devoted clerk, Hester Reed, staunchly refuse to disclose why Emily suddenly left the law firm.

It soon emerges that after leaving the firm, Emily had started working for an online pornography studio, run by her long-estranged half-sister, Lisa Conroy. Of late, Emily was being hounded by one of her clients, Robert Tanner, and had recently asked another studio employee, Darren, to set up a video intercom at her flat for safety. Also, someone had been sending Emily bouquets of roses, with blank cards.

As Havers and Lynley investigate, they begin to uncover secrets in Emily’s life that throw a shocking new light on the possible motive for which she was murdered. They also discover that Emily’s killing closely parallels the death of another young woman 15 years ago. It seems that both tragedies revolve around the same man.

In the meantime, Lynley and Helen resume their marriage whole-heartedly, despite Lynley getting an uncomfortable feeling that Havers isn’t too happy about this.

!! Tropes

* AllTakeAndNoGive: Wainwright doesn't think twice about treating Hester like dirt, despite her [[UndyingLoyalty obvious devotion]] to him. Lynley and Havers wonder why. [[spoiler: [[UnwittingPawn It turns out that Hester's the one pulling the strings]]]].
* TheAtoner: The reason why Emily took up human rights as her pet issue -- to ignore her guilt at knowing that [[spoiler: [[DarkSecret her father was raping her half-sister on a daily basis]]]], and doing nothing about it.
* AxCrazy: [[spoiler: Hester Reed]], literally.
* BrokenBird: [[spoiler: Lisa Conroy]].
* ChekhovsHobby: Remember that Wainwright's hobbies include mountain climbing? That becomes important when [[spoiler: it turns out the murder weapon was a mountaineering axe]].
* {{Foil}}: The relationship between Hester and Wainwright foils the relationship between Lynley and Havers -- and shows how such a close, co-dependent relationship can [[spoiler:go badly wrong]].
* FoolForLove: Havers certainly thinks that Lynley is one, falling for Helen all over again. Tellingly, Lynley does care about Havers' opinion, although he tries to take her studied indifference at face value.
* FriendVersusLover: As the page quote shows, Lynley-Havers and Lynley-Helen no longer sit comfortably side-by-side.
--> '''Helen''': She [Havers] doesn't think it's a good idea - us being friends again.
--> '''Lynley''': ''[disconcerted]'' I doubt she thinks very much about us at all.
* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: What really won Emily so many admirers wasn't so much her beauty, but her kindness to other people. Everyone, from her landlord to her co-employee, comments on it.
* TheLostLenore: Tony Wainwright is one unlucky man when it comes to love. Not that it's a coincidence, [[spoiler: thanks to his {{Yandere}} of a clerk]].
* LoveMakesYouCrazy[=/=]LoveMakesYouEvil: The episode is [[{{subtext}} a study of the nature of obsessive love]]. Just count the examples:
** Robert Tanner is infatuated with Emily's online persona and [[StalkerWithACrush wants to get closer in real life]].
** [[spoiler: Darren]] is so affected by Emily's beauty and kindness that he [[ThePeepingTom keeps an eye on her every movement]].
** [[spoiler: Wainwright]] is obsessively [[SexEqualsLove determined to have sex]] with Emily.
** And finally, [[spoiler: Hester Reed makes a habit of [[MurderTheHypotenuse murdering the hypotenuse]]]].
* MomentKiller: Deliberately or not, Havers walks in on Lynley and Helen just as they are beginning to get friendly at his office.
* ParalyzingFearOfSexuality: The reason why [[spoiler: Emily]] is a virgin. It stems from a childhood DarkSecret.
* ThePeepingTom: [[spoiler: Darren]] sets up surveillance cameras in every single room in Emily's flat, including the bathroom.
* SexEqualsLove: [[spoiler: Wainwright]] thought so. Emily didn't. The result was tragic.
* StalkerWithACrush: Robert Tanner isn't satisfied with his online [[DoubleEntendre intercourse]] with Emily. He wants it to carry over to their real life.
* UndyingLoyalty: Hester's devotion to Wainwright rivals Lynley and Havers' loyalty to each other. Other than the fact that Wainwright couldn't care less. And [[spoiler: Hester is a {{Yandere}} who'd kill rather than share]]. The key difference seems to be that where the Lynley-Havers dynamic is completely ''un''selfish, not to mention based on deep mutual respect, Hester-Wainwright is the complete opposite.
* UnwittingPawn: For years, [[spoiler: Wainwright]]'s alibi was that he and person X ''[[note]]Hester Reed[[/note]]'' were together on the afternoon of a murder. What he didn't realise is that he was person X's only alibi, too.
* {{Yandere}}: [[spoiler: Hester Reed]].