Egocentric actor Ward Fowler (William Shatner), who portrays Detective Lucerne on a weekly TV show, is being blackmailed by his producer and ex-paramour, Claire Daley (Lola Albright), over the fact that he was a deserter in the Korean War.
Fowler drugs a friend staying at his house watching a baseball game, puts it on tape delay, then dons a ski mask and pretends to rob a delicatessen where Claire is shopping.
Ruth Lytton (Joyce Van Patten) has dedicated her life to the museum, never marrying and having no children, although her niece Janie (Jeannie Berlin) is as close to her as a daughter.
Her brother Edward (Tim O'Connor) is not nearly as dedicated to the family business as Ruth is; in fact, he plans to close the museum and sell the building, as it's been losing money for years.
Bertie Hastings (Sorrell Booke) discovers that his friend, Oliver Brandt (Theodore Bikel), a senior partner in an accounting firm, has been embezzling money to support the expensive lifestyle of his beautiful wife, Vivian (Samantha Eggar).