Santa Teresa, California, 1947: P. I. Nathaniel Crowe has extricated his client, Charlene Cleveland, from a dangerous marriage to a dangerous man, a local hood, Sal Cleveland. Her husband grants the divorce, but then runs her car off the road and shoots her. Crowe is shaken by news of the murder. He resolves to get justice for Charlene, even if it means working for free. He crosses paths with the beautiful and exotic Annie Kahlo, an eccentric artist, who has an old grudge against the gangster. Annie knows a few secrets about Cleveland; secrets that might help Crowe bring the kingpin down....