Blues man Ches Collins (Bobby Short) sings a song in his nightclub act that recounts the 1948 murder of Louis Sweet, Sgt. Wilson Sweet's (Geoffrey Thorne) grandfather. Neither Louis' body nor his brand-new Packard sedan was ever found. The only official witness to the crime, Delbert Mueller (Roy Lind), is at death's door but will not reveal any further details. The sheriff who took Mueller's original statement, Nathan Bedford (James Best), knows more than he will say, which frustrates Sgt. Sweet's quest for the truth.
—richardann