When Max Hunter was an antiques dealer acquaintance of Lovejoy over fifteen years earlier, he became convinced Lovejoy was having an affair with his wife. Even though they were nothing but friends, the pathologically jealous Hunter murders his wife and spends the next fifteen years plotting revenge. A devotee of word games and puzzles, the recently paroled Hunter kidnaps Charlotte and threatens to kill her unless Lovejoy can decipher his carefully composed codes and directions to find their location. As Lovejoy frantically follows the trail of planted clues, he is videotaped by Hunter's confederate.
—Anonymous