Mobster and promoter Benny Cyrano has a sweet deal with the new boxing commissioner, Senator Courtway (John Ireland), and high hopes for his fair-haired boxer of the moment, Duke Targo. When Cyrano hires Philip Marlowe to find out who is threatening Duke, Marlow discovers that Duke's girlfriend Jean (Roxanne Hunt) is squeezing the Senator for money by passing herself off as his illegitimate daughter, and is getting in the way of Cyrano's plans.