Set in Prohibition era Chicago, bootlegger Robbo and his cronies refuse to pay the greedy Guy Gisborne a cut of their profits after Guy shoots mob boss Big Jim and takes over. When Big Jim's daughter, Marian, gives Robbo a large sum, believing he has avenged her father's death, the gangster donates to an orphanage, cementing his reputation as a softhearted hood.

Big Steve Halloway, gambler and proprietor of New York's Horseshoe Cabaret, is in desperate need of money. He arranges for his fellow bookies, especially Sorrowful Jones, to each pay him $1,000 for his racehorse, Dream Prince, to lose. With all bets being placed at the window, Sorrowful encounters a gambler, having lost $500, wanting to place his bet but unable to come up with $20. Instead, he places his little girl, Marthy Jane, as security, or in bookie's terms a "marker". "Marky", as she comes to be known, winds up under the care of Sorrowful Jones and his lady friend, singer Bangles Carson.

Egy rendőrségi eset riasztó fordulatot vesz, amikor Rose Ekberg nyomozó (Marg Helgenberger) és partnere (Michael Biehn), akik éppen egy vietnámi bűnszervezetet akarnak leleplezni, amikor az események éles fordulatot véve, őket éri tragédia: a partner várandós feleségét brutálisan meggyilkolják. De semmi sem az, aminek látszik ebben a vérfagyasztó krimiben. Kiderül, hogy Ekbergnek titokban viszonya volt partnerével, úgy tűnik, meg is van az indíték és a bizonyítékok, melyek Ekberget teszik gyanúsítottá partnere feleségének meggyilkolásában.

A compulsive gambler learns about a horse race that is going to be fixed, and tries to capitalise on it. Meanwhile, his friend gets into trouble over a bag containing Rs 50 lakh cash.

An elderly woman provides an alibi to a man she scarcely knows who is on trial for murder of his girlfriend's racketeer father.