When a detective conceals the fact that the Priest who ran the orphanage where he grew up is implicated in a cold case of two murdered boys, the greatest danger is the truth.

SYNOPSIS:

It's 1988: twelve-year-old Shawn is an abused kid who lands in a Boston orphanage for boys, run by Father Shultz. The Father is a compelling leader, a trained psychologist committed to the boys he serves, but also not without temptation. The two form a strong bond that will last a lifetime. During this time, the community is terrified by the murders of two young boys. Father Shultz starts seeing a new patient in his psychology practice named Pepper, and the wealthy young man's sexually aggressive conversations put the Father on alert, at least until Pepper's suicide coincides with the end of the child murders.

Shawn grows up in this tense backdrop, but today as an adult, he's a detective in Cambridge with a rising career, and Father Shultz remains his surrogate father. However, when Shawn is put in charge of the cold case of the two murdered boys, he begins to learn disturbing facts that implicate the priest.

At first, the connections seem coincidental, and Shawn protects the Father from suspicion. But as he follows the facts of the case, he discovers fingerprints that suggest the Father killed Pepper. When confronted, Father Shultz confesses he indeed killed Pepper, but only because Pepper begged for his death, knowing that he would murder again. Pepper had used one of the boys in the orphanage to recruit a victim, and the guilt of acting as an accomplice ultimately destroyed that boy's life.

Shawn has no memories of these events from his childhood, and he discovers why: the Father used an experimental drug in his psychology practice that made his young patients forget discrete chunks of time, thereby freeing them from the memory of their often horrific abuse. While the drug was not approved, the treatment was successful for several boys.

Suspecting he was one of the boys drugged, Shawn confronts the Father to know the truth: what did Father Shultz want him to forget? A final twist reveals the shocking lie that saves them.