School girl Hattie Sutton disappears on her way to join her village's May Day celebration as its queen. Her uncle Steve Docker,who organized the event,gets together a search party of locals and they end up in the Magic Circle, an area of woodlands popular for teen-aged meeting places. Here they find Hattie's crown and Steve is immediately suspicious of his brother Seth,whom he saw entering the woods that day. At the same time ex-policewoman Fiona Hill finds blood on her husband Alan's shirt though he gives an explanation for it. Unhappily married Gail Spicer disbelieves her husband Matthew,a property developer planning a new housing estate opposed by Hattie and her family,when he says he spends long hours in the woods walking their dog. Young Linus Newcombe,who fancies Hattie's sister Caitlin,finds his widowed,sarcastic father Everett bundling up a long parcel but when he asks what is in it Everett attacks him. Written by don @ minifie-1

As the search for Hattie continues Steve confronts Seth over his obsession with stealing pointless items from houses,his latest haul being the Hills' daughter's cuddly toy. Gail,concerned that Malcolm stayed out all night and seeing scratches on his car,gets her son James to hack into his father's computer. They discover that Malcolm has ploughed all the family's monies into his proposed estate,a plan scuppered by the protests led by Hattie. After Everett apologizes to Linus the boy is interviewed by D.S. Mills,who remembers Linus's mother. At school Linus comforts Caitlin,who has become an unwilling centre of attention and who admits to having felt she was in Hattie's shadow. They crack a bottle of wine together.After Alan,also a police officer,tells Fiona that he has been suspended from work for undue force with the suspect whose blood is on his shirt,Fiona,annoyed by Everett's cavalier attitude to the crisis,joins the search and finds Hattie's clothes in a lake near the Magic ... Written by don @ minifie-1

After Malcolm has hanged himself in the woods James gets Gail to erase all links between him and Hattie before the police arrive. They put up a united front but,after Hattie's father accuses them of hiding his daughter,they deduce that Malcolm was not a bird watcher but a voyeur,spying on youngsters having sex. Fiona is overjoyed when Alan tells her that the complainant against him has dropped all charges but Linus is disturbed to find that Everett knew Hattie well as they both attended the same dance class. He also learns from Caitlin that Hattie was apparently about to run away from home with a stranger she called NDN and that Hattie rang Caitlin as she was being abducted. Steve makes Seth move in with him,aware that Seth's childlike manner may make him a scapegoat over Hattie. He also confesses that he is leading the search party to convince his sister Jo,Hattie's mother,that he should be allowed to contact his son,allegedly in Spain with his estranged wife. Written by don @ minifie-1

Fiona is aghast to find Charlotte is not in her bed but catches up with her hiding in the shed and claiming she is worried about her father.The Hills argue but Alan appeases his wife and child. James is shocked that his mother seems glad to be rid of her husband but neither of them can account for why Malcolm left an envelope full of cash marked for Linus in his safe.Alan finds Hattie's body in the woods,hidden in a tree,and Seth confesses to murder and telling DS Mills that Hattie put a spell on him to do bad things. Fiona has a run-in with Everett over a twenty year old incident before Linus accuses his father of murdering Hattie though Everett merely says that Hattie was a 'delusional little girl' who would not leave him alone. A row ensues and Linus moves in withe Hills,telling Fiona he believes Everett killed his mother. Written by don @ minifie-1

Linus goes home and accuses Everett of killing Hattie,as well as his mother but Everett explains that the mother died when she tripped over one of Linus's toys, a fact he has always kept from the boy to protect his feelings. Reconciliation follows. Seth is given an alibi and released but he dramatically crashes into the memorial service for Hattie,claiming that she is not dead. Richard,Hattie's father,wants to know more and goes into the woods with Seth. Steve,disappointed that,though his ex-wife Angie has returned with their little boy,his past possessiveness has made her block staying access,follows and makes a gruesome discovery. Gail finally tracks down Linus and discovers would pay him to perform sex in the woods with girls he had met whilst Malcolm watched. Faced with eviction Gail is given a life-line by a friend and gets her final revenge on Malcolm. Fiona finds evidence to suggest that Alan killed Hattie and goes to see DS Mills. An arrest is made but has justice been done? ... Written by don @ minifie-1