When a local farmer, Jack Buckley, wins Oz lotto, the patrons at the Imperial are truly delighted for him. His family have been struggling with their farm for as long as anyone can remember, and Jack dreams of using the money to pay off the bank and keep the farm in the family for future generations. Next day, however, Jack claims his winning ticket has been stolen, and PJ becomes skeptical because there is some doubt that the ticket ever existed - the newsagent didn't sell it to him, and his family can't remember seeing it. Maybe the old man really is going senile?
But Maggie takes the old man's side, and even though PJ has dismissed the case as a uniform matter, Maggie's insistence that Jack is right keeps PJ interested. If there was a ticket, who might have taken it? Jack blames the "vultures" who came to the farm equipment auction the day before, but thus far nobody has tried to claim the prize.
One of the people at the auction was Adam, who bought an old cradle to do up for the baby he is eagerly awaiting. Stacey, however, doesn't share his enthusiasm for old furniture, preferring everything new for the baby. She is clearly bored by herself at the pub, and uses the excuse of not feeling well to get Adam home from work to see her.
When PJ and Maggie are called out to an intruder at the Buckley farm, and find Jack's sister Dot fighting with Rich over an old Lotto ticket found in the chook scraps, it looks more certain that there was a ticket and his family deliberately misled the police. They decide to question the family.
They soon discover a mass of secrets and hidden reasons for stealing the ticket. Sister Dot resents the fact that Jack inherited the farm and she got nothing; Georgina, his seventeen year old granddaughter is desperate for attention and money since her parents split up; and finally his son, Stephen, wants to put his father into a retirement village and has been talking to developers about the land.
Matters come to a head with a fire at the Buckley's which burns down the old stables and destroys Georgina's much-loved horse. Stephen blames his father's senility for starting the fire, but Maggie overhears a heartfelt apology which gives her a clue as to the real identity of the ticket thief. One man's dream, it seems, can be a nightmare for somebody else.
Meanwhile, Adam ignores Stacey's latest call for help because he is attending the fire investigation. Then he discovers this one was for real; she has been rushed to hospital and is miscarrying. He is overcome with guilt as Stacey loses the baby. But then he learns some information which shatters his own dreams of future happiness.
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