The apparent suspect in the stabbing of a businessman through the heart is his partner, Oliver Hilditch, a cold-eyed fellow with a paper-thin alibi. Francis Ledsam is a defence lawyer who is congratulating himself on a superb performance that has just resulted in the acquittal of Oliver Hilditch of murder. Margaret Hilditch's confession to him that Hilditch was guilty of crimes far more heinous than murder pricks his ego. Ledsam swears he will never again defend a guilty man. When his newly discovered values collide with the harsh reality of real-world justice, he finds himself trapped between his love for a beautiful woman and a great desire to do the right thing.