A trade union lawyer named Walter Deaney murders a burglar in his house in cold blood. Only an unorthodox (some might say slobby) plain-clothes detective named Mitchell believes that Deaney is...

A trade union lawyer named Walter Deaney murders a burglar in his house in cold blood. Only an unorthodox (some might say slobby) plain-clothes detective named Mitchell believes that Deaney is guilty, but Chief Albert Pallin tells him that Deaney is wanted "every federal law violation in the book" and is therefore "FBI property." To keep Mitchell away from Deaney, Pallin orders him to stake out the home of James Arthur Cummings, a wealthy man with ties to the mob whose "big scene" is the import and export of stolen merchandise. Although initially Mitchell is unconcerned with Cummings and focuses primarily on Deaney, he gets drawn in after Cummings discovers that Salvatore Mistretta, cousin of his mafioso benefactor Tony Gallano, is bringing in a shipment of stolen heroin from Mexico without Cummings' consent. Cummings refuses to let Mistretta use his port facilities to bring the shipment in, earning him the ire of Gallano who begins sending thugs to harrass him. Cummings decides that the only ally he still has - aside from his faithful butler, Benton - is Mitchell, because he's no good to the police dead. Meanwhile, Deaney, in an effort to persuade Mitchell to enter into an illicit real estate deal, sends him a hooker named Greta as a "Christmas gift," with whom Mitchell begins a love/hate relationship.