The story focuses on a released mental patient who falls in love but cannot control his violent urges.

Realizing that he cannot handle the pressures of big-city life, he moves into a beach-side motel in a small coastal town in Southern California and falls in love with Susan Mayes, the daughter of the motel's owner, Loren.

At first, no evidence ties Roy to the crime and, for a time, things again look bright for him and his relationship with Susan.

However, while packing up, Susan comes across a hotel registration card that might implicate Roy, although she does not realize this; she is merely excited that there may finally be a clue to finding her father's killer.

Roy comes to his senses and rescues her, taking her back to the motel, where he phones the police to turn himself in.