When Dallas FBI agent Thomas Mackelway (Aaron Eckhart) violates serial killer Raymond Starkey's civil rights during an arrest, Starkey goes free and Mackelway is demoted to a remote branch office. His first day on the job, Mackelway investigates a murder that turns out to be the first of three seemingly random killings. Or perhaps they are not random at all; the last to die is Mackelway's nemesis, Raymond Starkey. The assignment consumes him as the case becomes increasingly gruesome and personal, which does not go unnoticed by his unflappable partner Fran Kulok (Carrie-Anne Moss). She too becomes drawn into the labyrinth of chilling clues, all of which point to the enigmatic Benjamin O'Ryan (Ben Kingsley), who may also harbor a sinister link to Mackelway.