Pat Novak For Hire was a noir detective drama series set on the rough-and-tumble San Francisco waterfront, featuring a wisecracking freelancer who ran a boat rental shop and took on cases for money. In 'Fleet Lady,' Pat Novak becomes entangled in a murder mystery involving the horse racing world when a dead horse leads to the discovery of a dead jockey, setting him on a dangerous trail through San Francisco's criminal underworld while being suspected by Inspector Hellman.