On a cruise ship to Stockholm, an American man attacks a passenger. When Marianna Hermansson from the Stockholm police arrives, he has escaped. What she doesn't know is that the man is her boyfriend, John.

Mariana discovers that John is not only the attacker, but that he also supposedly died ten years ago, executed in a prison in Ohio. When John tries to escape, Mariana lures him back.

John is acquitted of the assault charges, but the Foreign Office decides to extradite him. Mariana is convinced of his innocence and helps him escape from prison again.

With Mariana and John on the run, Ewert negotiates a deal to keep John from being extradited, but in Ohio, Edward Finnigan has other ideas.

When John is back on death row, Mariana travels to Ohio to help prove his innocence. She comes into conflict with Hanna, who wants to focus on putting political pressure on Finnigan.

Mariana follows the clues back to Sweden and discovers who murdered Elisabeth. While Hanna reveals this to Finnigan, he completes her plan and sends himself to death row.