Taggart and Peter are on the trail of a mentally disturbed butcher leaving the limbs of a female corpse at various locations around Glasgow. Meanwhile, a smarmy hypnotist uses his powers to seduce married women.
Taggart becomes friendly with a local tartan saleswoman, Peter digs for body parts at a garbage depot, Rosy falls for the not so friendly butcher George, and a gang of angry husbands show up at the hypnotist's door.
Taggart sacrifices a holiday for the sake of the case which puts his marriage on the rocks and then just as Peter and he zero in on George, the butcher turns up dead.
After a rich couple turns up dead, Jamie, a young lad who was the last to see them alive is suspected. However, Taggart doesn't believe he's guilty and instead focuses his attention on a snobby golf club the victims owned.
Eager to get a conviction, DS Forfar falsifies evidence against Jamie leading to a dramatic foot chase. Meanwhile, Taggart becomes involved with Peter's old flame from university.
Kenny's in trouble when it becomes obvious that Jamie's not guilty, Taggart links the murders to a ring of illegal baby traders, but what is the meaning of the phone call the victims were so nervously expecting the day they died?
