Sgt Joe Friday and officer Smith struggle to crack a case involving a cat burglar. With all their leads going nowhere and evidence scarce the case seems to be leading to a dead end. Then their luck changes.
Friday and his partner Smith race against time to stop a series of brutal beatings of women in the Hollywood area. Just when they think they have their man, things change and very quickly.
A worried woman contacts Friday and Smith when her elderly mother mysteriously disappears and suspects her father of foul play, a suspicion that proves to be correct when blood is found at her old house.
Joe Friday searches for a check forger who has been using the name of the old-time movie villain Parker Allington, who died three years ago. The search takes him to a former extra who has given up show business for crime.