The body of a man dressed in a dinner jacket, black tie and a grotesque party mask is found in the pantry of an old home up for sale.

As a safe cracker, 'Squirrel' is a fast worker, but not fast enough to escape a warning bullet fired by police at the scene of a robbery. On the run, wounded and desperate, he finds an unexpected ally in tough-talking prostitute Rosie Cullen.

A typewritten note sent to publisher Harry Thompson lures him to a vacant lot where he is shot dead. Investigations lead detectives to a man with a strong dislike of the police, and who remains uncooperative - until his daughter is threatened.

The body of an elderly woman is found in a quarry and it starts detectives off on a macabre case. The discovery and investigation changes the quiet life of housewife Pat Palmer to one of intense fear.

A man is killed when the car he is driving explodes and bursts into flames. Homicide is told by Forensic that the explosives used were the work of an expert, and they later question John Turner, an electrician with past convictions.