Dismas Hardy knows something is amiss with his trusted secretary, Phyllis, who has been behaving out of character. Dismas discovers that Phyllis has been playing host to her convict brother, just released from San Quentin. Then Phyllis is arrested, accused of being an accessory to the murder of Hector Valdez. The connection between Phyllis, her brother, and Hector's murder is hard for Dismas to understand, but if Phyllis has a chance of going free, he needs to put all the pieces together, fast.