Convinced that reformed thief turned author Arthur Farnell is behind a reputed crime school, Hardcastle asks Mark to go undercover as a potential student. Using the name Mark Benchley, Mark introduces himself to Farnell by stealing the author's car. Impressed with Mark, Farnell invites him to join the school. Farnell, however, becomes quite suspicious when Mark seems to be doing too good a job during a car theft class. While out on a date with Trish, one of Farnell's associates, the author confronts Mark and orders him to steal a car from Beverly Hills Auto. Forced into a corner, Mark reluctantly steals the car. Afterwards, he is shocked to discover that the car he stole belongs to a reputed drug dealer named Terrence Harlow. Since Harlow tends to smuggle drugs inside of cars, Hardcastle realizes that the car probably contains drugs. Recognizing that Mark's cover is blown, Hardcastle calls Farnell and threatens to tell Harlow who ordered Mark to steal the car. Next, he contacts Harlow and arranges for him to come to the meeting with Farnell. As expected, Harlow arrives at the meeting site and immediately sets his sight on killing Harlow. With his trap triggered, Hardcastle leads the police as they move in and round up Farnell, Harlow and their men.

Surprised when prisoner Dwayne Morton refuses parole, Hardcastle decides to investigate. Interviewing the prisoner, Hardcastle discovers that Morton has put together a study showing an incredibly high incidence of deaths among recently paroled convicts. Theorizing that a group of vigilantes is killing ex-convicts, Hardcastle checks into the records. He is shocked to discover that the prime suspects are judges Emmett Parnell, Frank Cardigan, and Roy Stern. Since all of the judges previously served on the Georgia Street Motor police squad with him, Hardcastle realizes that he may be able to become part of their group. After staging a fight with McCormick, Hardcastle finds himself approached by the three vigilante judges. Offering to help with the "McCormick situation", the judges test Hardcastle by having him kill Mark. Seeing an opportunity to gain their confidence, Hardcastle proceeds to kill Mark. Later, while Frank and Ray are in a steam room, Mark, who only pretended to die, lets them see him. Arriving at Gulls Way to confront Hardcastle, the three judges are tricked into confessing their crimes to a hidden camera.

Returning to his hometown of Clarence, Arkansas for a high school reunion, Hardcastle is shocked to discover that someone is forcing people to give up their farms. After explaining the situation to the judge, Bucky Miller's farm is destroyed in a mysterious fire. The next day, Bucky is killed in a car accident. Arriving in town for the funeral, Bucky's daughter Christy, believing that her father was murdered, asks Hardcastle to investigate. When town official Bill Paxton refuses to give Hardcastle access to the local land bids, the judge goes to Danny Stuber, the town judge, to get a search warrant. Arriving at Stuber's house, Hardcastle is stunned to find that the judge has been murdered. Seeing no legal way to get to the bids, McCormick sneaks into Paxton's office and steals them. Although Mark is arrested for the crime, he manages to dump the records before he is taken into custody. Retrieving the records, Hardcastle discovers that Mayor Broadmore and Sheriff Carter are behind the crimes. Meanwhile, with Christy's help, Mark breaks out of prison. Going to Hardcastle's aid, Mark and Christy are stunned to see the Sheriff trap Hardcastle in a car and send it into the lake.

While driving, Hardcastle is surprised to see Eric Goodburn, a cop killer he supposedly sent to prison for life without parole. Unable to catch Goodburn, he decides to contact the warden. The mystery only deepens when the warden has no record of Goodburn. Investigating further, Hardcastle is stunned to discover that there is no computer record of Goodburn'a arrest either. Unwilling to accept that he made a mistake, Hardcastle has police records officer Rose Carlucci check the hard copies of the police records. As Hardcastle suspected, contrary to the computer, the hard copies prove that Goodburn was sentenced to prison. Hoping to catch Goodburn, Hardcastle and McCormick go to see Linda Goodburn, the killer's sister. Although they manage to locate Goodburn, they are unable to interview him as he is killed in a shoot-out with some unknown men. Afterwards, Hardcastle catches some FBI agents following them. Confronted by Hardcastle, the FBI agents admit that the government freed Goodburn, a surveillance expert, so that he could spy on a reputed drug dealer named Tony Boutros. After leaving the FBI agents, Mark discovers that, before his death, Goodburn had hid a tape in his car. Playing the tape, the judge realizes that it is the evidence the FBI needs to arrest Boutros. Before they can turn the tape over to the FBI, they are captured by Boutros. Boutros' success is short lived for Hardcastle and McCormick quickly turn the tables and capture him.

Unbeknownst to Mark, Howard Kaye, a mechanic fixing the Coyote, uses the car for a date with a woman he met through a computer dating service. After a couple of men attack Mark for some incident that took place a couple of nights ago, the ex-race car driver realizes that they are probably looking for Howard (since he had the Coyote on that night). Confronted, Howard tells Hardcastle and McCormick about his date with a woman named Cheryl Dirksen and how some men were chasing her. Proceeding to Cheryl's apartment, they discover the place a mess but no sign of her. When they discover a picture of Cheryl in the desk of a murdered man, Hardcastle and McCormick decide to check out the dating service. Going undercover, both Mark and the judge sign up with the service. Debra, Hardcastle's date, tries to kill the judge after realizing who he is. Prepared, Hardcastle counters her murder attempt and convinces her to talk. As a result, he learns that the dating service arranges to have their girls marry and kill wealthy men. Meanwhile, Howard is captured by the people running the service when he responds to a call from Cheryl (who is on the run since discovering what the service is doing). Arriving in time, Hardcastle and McCormick rescue Howard and Cheryl as well as capture the killers. Special Guest Star: Special Appearance by: Guest Cast: Writer: Director:

Inside Clarkville State Prison as part of a program to scare troubled teens into straightening out their lives, Hardcastle and McCormick are captured when a prison riot erupts. The convicts, led by a man named Paul Connors, use their hostages as a bargaining chip as they try to get the authorities to investigate their claim that the people running the prison are corrupt. Despite Connors' accusation that prison guard Charlie Friedman is using prisoners to carry out hits for the mob, the police refuse to negotiate. Preparing for an assault, the prisoners handcuff Hardcastle and McCormick together and have them change into prison garb. As expected, police Lieutenant Barger storms the prison. Although Connors is captured, a convict named Kyle escapes with Mark and the judge as hostages. Once outside, Hardcastle and McCormick manage to escape from Kyle. Still in prison uniforms, they find themselves being chased as escaped convicts. Warren Porter, who is really behind the corruption, finally manages to capture the two men. Thanks to their quick thinking, Hardcastle and McCormick turn the tables and capture the crooked warden.