The story of a vapid bank clerk who descended to murder for the sake of a bank roll and immediate security, and who spent the rest of his life guarding the secret burial spot in the dingy city backyard, while his family ran riot on the money he more or less accidentally made on a fluke. The interest lies more in the development of the relations of the man to his down-trodden wife, his son and daughter; in the aftermath of murder. When eventually he is arrested for a murder he did not commit, the title is explained.