Free-lance reporter and private detective Nick Bancroft doesn't believe it. He learns the victim lived in a home for young unwed mothers who work as waitresses and whores at a local nightclub. Murder suspects include an alcoholic handy man, the man and wife who operate the home, a nightclub operator and his henchman, and a sheriff's deputy. Federal agents on the trail of an international porn ring try to halt Nick's investigation. Nick is beaten and thrown in a ditch. Later he and his earthy lover, Maggie Atley, are dumped in a deep lake with weights tied to their ankles.