[4] Illinois, 1876: Tom Muldoon turns up in the capital city of Springfield, telling an old acquaintance, undertaker John Langley, that he has just gotten out of prison in Joliet.

But he is serving a life sentence, so Muldoon's idea is to kidnap the warden's daughter and trade her for the counterfeiter's release.

Langley agrees and persuades his partner Herbert Evans, mortuary employee Jed and niece Carol Ann to be accomplices.

Desperately needing a new plan, Muldoon suggests becoming grave robbers, stealing the body Abraham Lincoln from its Springfield resting place.

Writer-producer Ray Wander said he heard about the story while working with Mark Stevens on Washington on Big Time for TV.