Assigned to Homicide bureau, Joe Friday investigates a shooting of a police officer. The fatally wounded officer struggles, but does his best to tell how it happened. A description of a car and driver are about all that the emotionally charged Joe Friday has to go on. Joe is uncharacteristically upset when he interrogates Vickers, the shooter, who was also wounded.

The cold, and brusk attitudes of Joe and Ben give cause to Vickers to have plenty to worry about. The desperate man overcomes any injuries to make a break for it and run. Later, chief Backstrand reveals the guns found in the car were all stolen from the Army. Is there any leads on the escaped Vickers? A hotel room is discovered, and a knock down drag out fight ensues when a room full of guns is discovered.

The battered cops look over reports from the lab, and connect Vickers to an accomplice, but it doesn’t explain the unprovoked murder of a police officer. There’s still another man to pick up. Will some pressure cause the suspects to rat on each other? Time is on Joe’s side as he wears down their nerve. He and Ben enjoy a casual game of cards as they wait… then the real motive behind the crime comes out. The race is on to stop a bank robbery.