After an old lady is mugged, tension builds in Mt. Thomas. Thanks to Clancy, an eye-witness of the event, suspicion rests on a new family in town: the Baxters. The adult children, Matt, Troy and Tarni are brought in but nothing can be proven. Their father Barry, a softly controlling man, comes to bail them out and shortly afterward, Clancy is bashed.

The cops link it back to the Baxters and end up arresting Troy when a brick is thrown through Tom's window. However, at the same time, an old war veteran named 'Rocket' Turnbull who served with Tom is in town, and has publicly threatened Tom.

Meanwhile, Ben is attempting to play relationship advisor with Jo and PJ, until she confesses to him that the reason they split is because of Maggie. PJ thinks they can still work together, but Jo has asked for a transfer.

A new day dawns in Mt. Thomas. Grace and Jo are distraught when Cal Millic, a man who they were helping in a custody battle, loses, and refuses to give his daughter back. Jo is forc

It is the day after the explosion. The Mt. Thomas police station lies in ruins; Senior Constable Joanna Parish is dead, as is Clancy Freeman; and Grace Croydon is missing. While Tom recovers in hospital, PJ, Ben, Susie and Jonesy move into the new police premises where they are met with a surprise: Nick Schultz, now a Detective Sergeant in Homicide, has arrived to investigate the attack. And he's not the only one.

Sergeant Mark Jacobs has arrived in town for a temporary post - or so he thinks. But Inspector Falcon-Price wants Jacobs to move permanently into Mt. Thomas, because he wants a person more suitable than Ben to take over when Tom retires. Jacobs is an intellectual, self-confident, ambitious man in his 40s and quickly shows authority as the group move into their new premises.

PJ and Nick question 'Rocket' Turnbull, Tom's old war comrade, although he claims - and Tom agrees - that he couldn't get access to that much explosive.

When Cal Millic - the father who threatened Jo shor

Tension is rife in Mt. Thomas. Joss and Kelly interrupt a girl who goes crazy in a store, and later find out that bad speed is being sold in the town. PJ and Nick are on bad terms over what they think of Tom's intentions, and Amy is just trying to get someone to let her help. Ben and Susie are acting professionally around each other, and Jonesy is annoyed about their dalliance.

After clearing up the confusion about which Sergeant is for what (Ben is for Operations, Mark is for Administration), the DNA report comes back which concludes that Troy Baxter did meddle with Grace's car but, to prove he raped Grace, they must stop the funeral and take his body for DNA, which angers the Baxter family.

Although it is proven that Troy did rape Grace, PJ begins to side with Nick that Tom may be overdoing it to suggest that the Baxters bombed the station. And - after Tom verbally assaults Barry Baxter - and suggests they are selling speed as well, PJ earnestly believes he has gone over the edge. In

The gruelling investigation of the attacks on the Mt. Thomas police continues, as Tom heads to Melbourne to investigate the man who sold the parts for the bomb. He links it to chemical dealer 'Doc' Parkinson, and is determined to prove that he provided the Baxters with supplies for both the bomb and the speed.

Although Nick seems to be against this idea, he does join PJ and Amy - who everyone at the station is very impressed with - on another search of the Baxter property, during which time he plants listening devices in their home - which ultimately lead them to discover the truth.

On a doorknock, Jonesy and Susie rescue an attractive woman named Donna from a rubbish skip she has been locked in, and Jonesy falls for her. That night at the pub, her former de facto lover hits him, and then claims that Donna took all his possessions, and is a con artist.

Ben has been fawning over Susie a little too much, buying her expensive gifts, and she ultimately gives them back and leaves him unsure

Joss attempts to break things off with Fay Tudor but she doesn't agree. What he soon realises however, is that he is attempting to break off with her because he actually likes the relationship for once.

Kelly is riding high after she gets payback on sleazy Sergeant Holland, but it isn't long before he is trying his old tricks on another young woman named Shayleen, who is only 15.

Tarni Baxter returns to town, and Tom is certain that she is desperate for vengeance after Tom's arrest of her family. While he and Tarni square off, he arrests her boyfriend Ryan for possession of drugs, only Mark is suspicious that he planted the drugs himself. Tom arrives home that afternoon to find his dog, Digger, viciously murdered.

Kelly realises that Roy is dangerous and makes a formal complaint to Tom, who agrees with her and suspends Roy, who then threatens him.

The next day Tom's rental car is found on a deserted road, completely destroyed by fire - and with a charred body at the wheel.

The cops attempt to come to terms with what appears to be Tom's death.

Amy suspects suicide but PJ thinks otherwise and, upon learning that Tarni Baxter had no idea of the accident, the two are set back a bit as to who committed the murder. What they don't expect is to find Tom alive in a seedy hotel, and although they attempt to help him, they soon realise that he may have been responsible for the death of whoever it was in his car.

PJ and Kelly attempt to prove Tom's innocence but Amy and Roy think he may have gone over the edge. When they discover that Roy Holland is missing, it becomes likely that his body was in the car, and the knowledge that Tom suspended him, and that Roy may have suspected Tom of planting drugs on Ryan Dekker, leads Mark to accuse Tom of murder.

Tom, meanwhile, is crazy with rage. He threatens Tarni by promising to plant her hair on the car and implicate her. However Shayleen Burke soon confesses that her father killed Roy after he discovered everything about