A bandleader, making a comeback, learns that someone is trying to poison him. But four people might want him killed...

Johnny Staccato learns from his friend Barney that Barney's sister has given all her money to a local mission house. Knowing that the mission wouldn't ordinarily accept so much, Staccato suspects a bunco scheme.

A dance-hall girl is murdered, and Police Sergeant Joe Gillan suspects ex-jockey Stash McGill, a friend of the dead girl. Gillan asks Johnny Staccato if he can help locate McGill.

To evade Federal agents, a gang of counterfeiters hide their plates. Convinced that Waldo knows the hiding place, they threaten his life.

Jessica Winthrop, a noted pacifist, is accused of killing her husband. Solomon Bradshaw, the lady's lawyer, comes to Johnny Staccato for help.