Sultry blonde Barbara Lacey saunters into the Night and Day, a St. Louis bar, where she waits hours to deliver a mysterious envelope to a man that never arrives. She reluctantly entrusts it to bar owner Alfie Greenblatt, and steps into the alley. Moments later, Alfie hears the crisp pop of a bullet. He calls sergeant Reggie Combs to investigate. Is Barbara's death an accident or murder? Helen Tattaglia approaches her neighbors Elvin Suggs and his partners cobra Glynes and Dimond "Di" Redding of the Grapevine Detective Agency. She hires them to trail her "abusive husband," and alleges that her in-laws have arranged for her murder. Skeptical, the detectives accept the case, but soon discover Helen's sordid past, including another woman named Barbara Lacey. Frustrated, Reggie Combs turns to his friends at Grapevine Investigations. The shady dealings of the Tattaglia family begin to unravel, while they reveal the secret in the envelope.