Under heavy police protection, gangster Joe Rico arrives late at night at the courthouse to testify against crime boss Albert Mendoza. There have already been several attempts on Rico's life, but lead prosecutor Martin Ferguson reminds him that he faces numerous charges unless he cooperates. After another attempt on his life, Rico escapes his bodyguards but falls to his death from the ledge outside an eighth-floor window. Without Rico's evidence, Mendoza will be acquitted. However, Ferguson believes that something else has arisen in the investigation that might cinch the case, so he and police captain Nelson examine the evidence again in flashback sequences. The case began when small-time gangster James "Duke" Malloy burst into a police station and claimed to have killed his girlfriend under pressure from others. The police find only an empty grave and Malloy later commits suicide in his cell. Ferguson is assigned to the case and a check on Malloy's associates leads the investigators to "Big Babe" Lazick. When Lazick refuses to talk, Ferguson threatens to jail his wife and commit his son to foster care. Lazick confesses that he is operating under the orders of Rico, who receives requests to commit murders over the telephone. The killers murder for profit, as they are hired at the request of someone else. The killer will have no motive for committing the crime and thus will not be suspected by the police, while the client with the motive will have a perfect alibi. Only Rico knows the identity of the top boss. Lazick leads the police to the body of Nina Lombardo, who Malloy was supposed to kill, but he instead fell in love with her. Although they tried to hide, Malloy's associates found them and forced Malloy to kill her. Nina's roommate, Teresa Davis, tells the detectives that Nina's real name was Angela Vetto and that she was in hiding since her father's murder ten years earlier. The police find a mass grave filled with dozens of bodies. As the authorities near closer, the gang begins to disband. Rico is hiding on a farm with his last remaining accomplices and witnesses their shooting by hired killers who have been sent to silence everyone. Rico then contacts Ferguson, offering to testify against his secret boss, Mendoza. He reports that Tony Vetto and his daughter Angela had witnessed Mendoza's first murder but now there were no survivors for the prosecution. Frustrated, Ferguson leaves photos of victims in Mendoza's prison cell. He then listens to an audiotape recording of Rico's confession, which is
inadmissible in court. In the recording Rico, describes Vetto's daughter as having "big blue eyes", but Ferguson remembers that Nina Lombardo (assumed to be Angela Vetto) had brown eyes. However, Teresa did have blue eyes and Ferguson concludes that Nina was fingered as Duke's contract by mistake. Upon viewing Nina's photograph, Mendoza reaches the same conclusion and, with the assistance of his attorney, dispatches two of his remaining henchmen to pursue the real Angela Vetto. Ferguson and Nelson arrive at Angela's residence but discover that she has left the house for a shopping trip. The bustling streets make it challenging for them to locate her, prompting Ferguson to use a music store's sidewalk loudspeakers to alert her of the imminent danger and to instruct her to contact him at the store. Angela heeds the warning and promptly contacts Ferguson with the relentless killers in close pursuit. In the ensuing confrontation, Ferguson eliminates one of the gangsters while the other is apprehended. With Angela under his protection, he safely escorts her away, ensuring her ability to testify against Mendoza. ==Cast==