Touie is a low-dollar private detective who works from his apartment on the wrong side of the tracks in New York city. He's hired for an easy big-money job by television executive Kay Robbens, who always tries to "give you people a hand." All Touie has to do is keep tabs on a known fugitive until he can be arrested on-air. But the escaped convict turns up dead, and it becomes obvious that someone has been setting Touie up.