自從當初離開，警探艾倫•麥剋艾爾佩已經有20年沒有迴到帕特裏山警局瞭。20多年前，他在格拉斯格西部的一傢醫院裏，救起一位生命垂危的啞女。因為不知道她的名字，他給她起名叫安娜，並深深愛上瞭她。每天他都注視著她，女人開始用她受傷的手指筆劃著，同艾倫相互交流。

當時的艾倫，還是一名警察學校的學生，女人無法用手語說清自己的名字；也無法說齣，她剛剛降臨於世的女兒，其父親是誰；更無法指認齣用硫酸將她曾經美麗的麵容毀燒的凶手；或者告訴艾倫，她是怎麼將藏在身上的裸鑽偷偷帶入蘇格蘭的。

如今，麥剋艾爾佩重新迴到帕特裏剋山，開始著手調查一件睏擾他多時的謀殺案。接連有兩個女人被害，她們的屍體都呈雙臂張開，而雙腿閤攏雙腳交叉於膝蓋的姿勢。凶手是一個被媒體稱作"受難殺手"的男人。

1984: It looked like a simple job. That was why they gave it to him. Guarding a woman - nameless and almost faceless after a savage acid attack - at a Glasgow hospital, PC Alan McAlpine has no idea that this simple job will haunt his career and change his life forever. 2006: Two decades later, Alan steps into Partickhill police station and back in time. Now a celebrated Detective Chief Inspector, McAlpine has been drafted in to lead the hunt for a man the press are calling 'the Crucifixion Killer'. Two women are already dead, their mutilated bodies laid with arms outstretched. With his distinguished reputation, McAlpine's team are confident their new DCI will lead them to the killer. But the obsession that was born in a hospital room twenty-two years earlier has never quite left Alan. And now, it seems, it's come back for a reason...