Halifax: Retribution

A sniper who leaves no trace is terrorizing the city of Melbourne. Even with the sniper claiming his fourth victim, Jane is reluctant to join the task force despite the pleas of its commander, Tom Saracen. Jane’s partner, Ben, is against it, and even more so when Jane receives a troubling letter warning her that a ‘terrible retribution is at hand.'

The murder of her partner changes everything and Jane agrees to assist the investigation. When Zoe learns about the retribution letter, she lashes out at Jane, blaming her for her father’s death. The task force investigates Jane’s past cases, looking for a link to Ben’s murder--and maybe to the shooter as well. But is she prepared for the secrets the investigation will reveal?

The shooter claims two more victims as Jane tries to grapple with a case from her past. Twenty years ago, Jane was instrumental in putting Sharon Sinclair in prison for the murder of her father and stepmother. Now a successful crime writer, Sharon has a motive for harming Jane, and Jane confronts her alone. Is Jane too conflicted to help the task force after all?

In his most horrific attack yet, the shooter unleashes a spray of bullets on a packed party boat. Jane fears the shooter is transitioning from serial killer to mass shooter with the task force no closer to his apprehension. Zoe still blames Jane for Ben’s death. Jane reaches out to the shooter, who at last makes contact, beginning a dangerous game of cat and mouse.

The shooter hacks Jane’s phone and they continue their conversation, but his motives are still unclear. When the rifle that killed Ben turns up in the arsenal of alt-right leader Jack McCarthy, Tanner and Mila pressure him into giving up the source of the gun. Zoe announces she’s moving in with Mandy as Jane discovers Ben had been paying Mandy thousands of dollars over the course of a decade.

The shooter hacks into city systems broadcasts his message--a manifesto about big data and loss of privacy--and takes control of the police minister’s car, controlling all its functions. The task force discovers that Ben wasn’t the intended target --it was Jane. The shooter’s manifesto leads the task force to a student protest group from 2009 and a member is brought in for questioning.

The police at last know the shooter’s identity. But Saracen is seriously injured when the killer sets a trap and threatens worse to come. Clues lead the task force back to anti-government gun activist Anton Bungert’s farm where Jane establishes that the shooter is, in fact, Jarod, Bungert’s half-brother. Bungert is murdered while Jarod/Daniel remains at large.

Jane and Zoe must face the shocking truth behind Ben’s murder. Jane discovers a link in the manifesto between Jarod’s father and Agent Orange, and fears Jarod is planning a catastrophic chemical attack. Jarod is tracked to the wharf where the police surround him, but he has built a chemical bomb with a high-tech ‘dead man’s’ switch. Jane confronts Jarod in a final attempt at resolution.