The opening scenes criss crosses with a woman being strangled and a meeting of some aspiring politician who wish to bring back hanging.
The woman's killer is swiftly discovered. So is the killer of a cyclist injured by a drunk driver who then kills him.
What the crimes have in common is a disturbed young man John Greeney. He confesses to these deaths to Taggart even though he could not had committed them.
The murder of the pro capital punishment election candidate and her agent again brings Greeney back to the police station.
However the more Taggart investigates, he thinks Greeney might know more about the crimes. There is also something in the election candidate's past where she might had uncovered someone's murky secret.
Taggart's wife also is an election candidate fighting for the rights of the disabled and Taggart is running late to vote for her.
This three part story took an age to get going as it tried to shift the formula a little and set up its red herrings.
The viewer just might think that Greeney could had been responsible for the later crimes. As ever in Taggart it is more layered.