A small town police chief, Gus Holmgren (Jack Nicholson), is about to retire. His final case is the grisly murder of a little girl found in the woods. Gus makes a promise to the girl’s mother to catch her killer. During his retirement, Gus finds that he just cannot leave the case alone. He investigates on his own, and discovers a pattern of other murders. He becomes obsessed and risks all to find the killer.