Stuart is approached by a Dr. Northrop about a life and death situation. One of Stuart's former clients, Dr. Northrop's wealthy patient Phillip Staunton, has been kidnapped. Only Dr. Northrop knows that Phillip suffers from a potentially life threatening illness that is controlled by medication, he needing his next injection within twenty-four hours before he will succumb to that illness. When Stuart meets with the Staunton family who live with Phillip in upscale Santa Leora where they received the ransom call, they individually have mixed reactions to Stuart being involved in recovering Phillip from the kidnappers. Phillip's personal secretary Diane Loring, who has known Phillip since they were in school together and who she considers like an older brother, and Phillip's younger sister, the seemingly sexually aggressive Luana Staunton, welcome Stuart's involvement, they cooperating as much as they can, especially in that they were the two who took the ransom call. Phillip's wife, singer Terry Staunton, a woman with a past - her first husband being a murdered gambler involved in racketeering - is angry about Stuart's involvement fearing it could cost Phillip his life. She instead turned to that "past", known gangster Bennie Cannon, who she feels can handle the situation more effectively and more discreetly. Luana in particular hates Terry and believes she is hiding her involvement in the kidnapping in believing she a gold-digger who only married Phillip for his money, and is really in love with Cannon. It is another association to someone within the grouping, with a lowlife named Johnny Ritchie, that may be more of a key to finding Phillip and equally as important who is behind the kidnapping.
—Huggo