1870 The Colony of New Zealand
On a visit to the rugged and sparsely populated Great Barrier Island, ageing Armed Constabulary Sergeant, Patrick Kelly, investigates a possible shipwreck, and comes across the survivors leaving the area in a stolen boat, after murdering the owner. Kelly recognises one of the would-be pirates as Lily Powell, a dangerous woman he had arrested some months earlier, who had recently escaped gaol. He wants her recaptured, but his superiors say she has escaped on the High Seas, and to forget about her.
Sergeant Kelly is later sent up to the remote northern gumfields to take over the stalled investigation of the murder of a gum dealer. Lily Powell unexpectedly appears and after a struggle is arrested. She is sent back to Auckland under heavy police guard, leaving Kelly on his own to continue the murder investigation.
When the murderer realises that the Sergeant is on his trail, he ambushes him. Can Kelly, alone and injured, survive until reinforcements arrive?
