Novelist Arthur Hailey was known for his ability to transform mundane situations into thrilling tales, which translates well to the screen in this adaptation of Hailey's book DETECTIVE. A serial killer is brutally torturing and killing people, and Sergeant Malcolm Ainslie (Tom Berenger, INTO THE WEST) is desperate to track him down. Meanwhile, he is trying to work out problems with his wife (Cybill Shepherd, THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, MOONLIGHTING), and young son, who can't understand why his dad has left home. But when the killer is finally behind bars and on death row, Ainslie agrees to hear his confession, bringing to the fore material from both men's pasts. Ainslie seeks to answer the one question that remains: why did the killer confess to the one killing the Detective doesn't believe he committed'