Correlli

Sister Pat's emotions are in disarray when Margaret, her support of many years, decides to leave the order. Hodges leaves Blackstream and rejects Jones's support. Pat's reluctance to accept an attempted murderer's fundamentalism, and her inability to convince him to accept reality when his parole is rejected, lead to strong repercussions in the prison, including Jones's revelation of an innermost secret to Louisa.

Louisa is confronted by the parallels of life and work when a prisoner, Brett Hodges, little older than her son, Anthony, arrives at the prison. Hodges' attitude problem and naivete make him vulnerable to the drug network. Thwarted in her attempts to help him, Louisa is alerted by Sister Pat to the realities of prison life, and this impacts on Louisa's personal life.

Louisa and Sister Pat encourage three Aboriginals to form a band to keep them out of trouble. Louisa is also faced with the problem of dealing with a self-mutilator, known as "Spoons", whom she is trying to have transferred to a psychiatric facility. Unable to do so, she takes solace in her relationship with one of the Aboriginals. However, just as it is developing well, things go terribly wrong. Jones assaults Sam in a counselling session, and as a result, Louisa has to face some hard decisions.

As the new prison psychologist, Louisa Correlli must find a way to help a long-serving prison officer, Costa, come to terms with the break-up of his marriage and the death of his best friend. Through all this, a newly-arrived prisoner, Kevin Jones, who appears to be suffering from brain damage, arouses her interest. Her expertise is tested to its limits, and the situation culminates when Costa loses control at the prison's family day, and Louisa begins to believe that Jones's condition may be a scam.

Louisa faces a personal and professional crisis when she has to negotiate a meeting with Haines, a psychopathic sadist, and the parents of one of his victims. Louisa's fears lead her to contact Haines' unwitting partner, Norma, in an attempt to unlock the parents' pain.

Louisa discovers the truth about Jones, but before she exposes him, she must establish why he chose the path of deceit. Concurrently, Louisa is drawn into the fantastic world of a prisoner, Alfredo, and his pain when Jean, his long-time visitor, dies in a car crash.