Alcohol, bad memories, and the body of a young woman make life difficult for Police Chief Jesse Stone. Who is the dead woman from the lake? No one seems to know her. The number of suspects is rising. When even the victim's own parents deny knowing her, he realizes that something is seriously wrong. No one wants to admit to having seen, heard, or known anything. The girl is dead, and the rest is silence. But Stone refuses to give up. The young woman is dead. And someone has to pay for it.