Plot summary

The son of a now deceased criminal, Mark Dixon, a detective out of the NYPD's 16th precinct, uses his fists to show criminals the contempt he has for them. This behavior has landed him in trouble with Inspector Nicholas Foley, who has just demoted him to second grade, Foley using the example of just promoted Lt. Thomas to head the precinct as appropriate police behavior, Thomas who began his career at the same time as Dixon. The latest case for Dixon and his partner, Det. Paul Klein, is the stabbing death of Texas tycoon Mr. Morrison at the illegal dice game operated by well known criminal, Tommy Scalise. Despite indications that one of Scalise's operatives, Ken Paine, may have been involved in witnesses mentioning an account of Paine having an altercation with both Morrison and their young female companion, Dixon is certain that Scalise is the murderer, or at least ordered the murder, in Morrison probably being ahead at the table at the time he was about to leave. In questioning Paine, Dixon gets into an altercation with him which results in Paine's death. Dixon not only attempts to hide Paine's death, but will also try to pin the murder on Scalise if Paine's body discovered. When Paine's body is discovered, complications ensue for Dixon as circumstantial evidence leads to Lt. Thomas charging wide-eyed cabbie Jiggs Taylor for Paine's murder. The issue for Dixon is not just that Jiggs is an innocent man, but that he has fallen in love with Jiggs' daughter, model Morgan Taylor, the young woman at the dice game, she, albeit separated, Paine's wife, he who unwittingly used her solely to entice Morrison to the craps table that night.—Huggo