[1][2][3] In an unnamed metropolitan city during the Depression, corrupt mayor Billy Manning is running for re-election, and his political allies in the party machine do their best to burnish his public image.

When a local mobster is shot in his hotel room by a speakeasy owner/racketeer named Jig Skelli the crime is witnessed by bellhop Eddie Martin, who had been waiting on him.

John Wade, part of the Mayor's clique, pressures Martin to name Jig as the killer, going as far as to prevent his wife Peggy from warning him other thugs have threatened the couple with death if they testify.

Since they cannot reindict Jig lest he reveal his secrets, the Mayor's clique take advantage of circumstantial evidence to present an alternate theory that Eddie was the killer.

When asked for a quote by reporters, the party chair defends Hyde's reputation as a prosecutor, and wonders where another man of integrity to lead the city will be found.