Sunny-natured Britt Pollack arranges a barter deal on laundry, restaurant and his girl friend, all paid for by kidnapping Randy Oaks's bulldog for his ex. His partner, now as unlicensed private investigator, ex-police detective Hank Dolworth, however drags Britt away for a far more serious case. Initially it's just tracking lush old friend Mickie Gosney's daughter Eleanor. In no time the case escalates into a murder, blackmail and huge real estate fraud centered around tycoon Robert Lindus.
The corrupt project developer's lawyers manage to discredit the charges, so the boys won't be paid, probably for long, and police detective Mark Gustafson takes the correct suspicion of evidence planting seriously. Desperate for a cash down-payment on his end his ex's home, Hank illegally snoops in police files and drags Britt along in search of a San Diego horse track robbery. It involves fugitive giant Mongo, whom they trap by pretending to extort his loyal girlfriend, and his half-brother, the track accountant. Meanwhile Britt's vet lover's asylum-adopted dachshund...
Exposed adulterous fraudster Robert Lindus hires the boys trough his surprisingly loyal wife Josephine to help him make bail, despite his assets being frozen, by 'stealing' cash he hid in a secret office safe, with a mysterious key. Britt would refuse, but Hank accepts, for a fat fee and hoping to find out about his lush ex-colleague's murder. Meanwhile hank's sister is discovered camping on his attic and failing to take her psycho-medication. Detective Mark Gustafson smells a rat after Lindus' bail release.