Secrets & Lies

Painter Ben Gundelach, his ex-to-be Christy, a real estate agent, and their daughters are shocked when Ben stumbles, during a nightly jog, on the strangulated corpse of neighbor Jess Murnane's four-year-old son, Thomas 'Tommy,' whom they babysat regularly and fondly. For lack of other suspects, police detective in charge Ian Cornielle seems focused on Ben, who had opportunity. Ample media attention causes their environment and customers to turn away from Ben.

Feeling cornered, Ben hopes to find out the truth himself. Jess Murnane tells him she believes in his innocence and suggests Tommy's killer must be her estranged partner, Iraq war veteran Paul Murnane. His biker ex-military house-mates cover for Paul, but although roughly chased, Ben discovers his motorcycle. Ben's family become outcasts. At Tommy's funeral, Ben discovers that his eldest daughter has an affair with Paul. Police detective Ian Cornielle considers Ben the prime suspect after the murder weapon is identified as a flash light like the one missing from Ben's truck and a surprising DNA test.

Tension rises when the news spreads that victim Thom was Ben's biological son. Christy nearly leaves him, but the family stays together, even when she's fired to avoid further negative publicity. Ben finally gets disproved father Paul arrested, for consorting with his underage eldest daughter Tasha, but the veteran is released, due to a solid alibi. Ben drags promiscuous Tasha from respectable classmate-date Coooper's party, suspects in-living buddy Dave Carroll of seducing her and kicks him out.

Advised by indignant first suspect Dave, after the torch turned up mysteriously, to dispose of it, Ben first hides it under his home, and after an unannounced search and and a paper trail, dumps it in a waterhole. Working on a neighbor's attic, Ben stumbles across picture of his GP, Dr. Tim Turner, with little Thom, researches on Inyernet that he changed his name after an unproved child abuse accusation in his native Cornwall, sees him burn pictures and alerts the police, but detective Cornille already knew and checked a solid alibi. The Gundelach family further disintegrates after Ben snaps at Christy's visiting lover.

Ben discovers a man in a neighboring house, who flees and leaves behind a bloody jacket. By the time the police arrives, it has gone, the man is identified as inoffensive discharged mental patient Felix Lanagas, who has an iron alibi for Thom's murder. Christy has lost all faith in Ben and move in at he brother Max's with both daughters, despite Eva furious protests and fugues back to home with Ben. Abandoned, Ben is seduced again by Jes.

Police detective inspector Ian Cornielle admits to Ben that he never saw a suspect go so far to sustain an improbable plea of innocence, but so far all other suspects were cleared conclusively and the torch, the presumably murder weapon, hasn't been accounted for. Ultimately, Ben's reconstruction attempt finds it in his junior daughter Eva's tree house, the start of whole new ultimate twist.