Stacey Garnett, driving near the beach, picks up young hitchhiker Debbie Conrad. He gives her his card offering her a job as a "Teddy Bear" at his Golden Bear men's club before stopping at a company property for a meeting, taking a small derringer with him as she waits in the car. After hearing shots, she runs away and finds a second ride with Victor Montalvo at a phone booth. She notices the same gun on the floorboard, picks it up and conceals it. When majority owner of the Golden Bear Club, Garnett, is found shot to death, Montalvo, his business partner, is charged with murder and he turns to Perry Mason to defend him. It's no secret that Montalvo disliked Garnett who took over the club and its magazine, which had previously focused on outdoor activities, and turned into a men's club and girly magazine. Montalvo was known to have detested what Garnett did, but forensic evidence reveals that he was killed with an odd-caliber gun like the one that Montalvo happens to own. Perry, convinced of his client's innocence, learns that there are also several others who wanted Garnett dead.
—garykmcd / edited by Hans Delbruck