Peggy has been dating a black musician named Gabe Johnson. While they are at a jazz club, he and a man in the audience both recognize one another, and Gabe flees, without Peggy and without his prized cornet. Peggy turns to Joe Mannix and asks him to investigate Gabe's disappearance. Mannix learns that Gabe's real name is Gabe Dillon, and that the man in the club who recognized him (and whom Gabe recognized) was the police chief from the southern town where Gabe escaped while serving a ten-year prison term for burglary, attempted murder, and hit and run. Mannix attempts to help Gabe, but his efforts are stymied by Gabe's own resistance, and by the police chief's dogged pursuit of the fugitive.
—aldanoli