San Francisco has a new serial killer on the loose. He kills his victims on crowded cable cars as they approach Fisherman's Wharf. He then demands that a talk radio station broadcast his communique or he will kill again. The killer kidnaps his victims first, then kills them in plain sight a day later. When the third victim is kidnapped, the clock is ticking. Suddenly, the kidnapper wants a huge ransom and Jack Beckett smells a con in the making. He has a chance to catch the killer when the ransom is delivered, but only if his theory is correct. If he's wrong, a young woman will die and the kidnapper will walk away with $20,000,000.