Weary of his work, Lomax reluctantly takes a case defending a man he believes is guilty of murder.

When Samuel Butler, a cruelly arrogant titan of industry, learns his wife is cheating again, he expresses his feelings with a punch to her face. She is bruised when he leaves the house, but still alive. After a few hours' drinking, he comes home to apologize, flowers in hand, and finds his wife bludgeoned to death on the floor. Or at least that's what he tells the police.

The cops don't believe him, and neither do the people of Denver, who write Butler off as a murderer even before his trial starts. In desperation, Butler's lawyer hires private detective Jacob Lomax to prove his client's alibi. Fresh off a Mexican vacation and thinking of quitting the business, Jake hates himself for defending a man who is so obviously guilty. But as he digs into the victim's past, he reconsiders. There are plenty of men who wanted this woman dead.