Police Sergeant William South has a reason for not wanting to be on the murder investigation... he is a murderer himself. But the victim was his only friend-like him, a passionate birdwatcher. South is warily partnered with the strong-willed Detective Sergeant Cupidi, and together they find the body violently beaten, forced inside a wooden chest. As South desperately investigates, he knows there is no crime, however duplicitous or cruel, that can compare to the great lie of his childhood.
