Once a social worker specializing in kids who were the victims of violent crime， Elle Castillo is now the host of a popular true crime podcast that tackles cold cases of missing children in her hometown of the Twin Cities。 After two seasons of successfully solving cases， Elle decides to tackle her white whale—The Countdown Killer。 Twenty years ago， TCK abruptly stopped after establishing a pattern of taking and ritualistically murdering three girls over seven days， each a year younger than the last。 No one’s ever known why—why he stopped with his eleventh victim， a girl of eleven years old， or why he followed the ritual at all。

When a listener phones in with a tip， Elle sets out to interview him， only to discover his dead body。 And within days， a child is abducted following the original TCK MO。 Unlike the experts in the media and law enforcement who have always spun theories of a guilty suicide， Elle never believed TCK had died， and her investigation was meant to lay that suspicion to rest。 But instead， her podcast seems to be kicking up new victims。