A young man is stopped by the police, a body is found in his backseat,
and he is convicted of murder. While he awaits execution, he makes out a
will leaving all his money to the police lieutenant who handled his
case. The lieutenant learns of this when Hildegarde Withers,
schoolteacher and hard-boiled private eye, stops by. She determines to
clear the man in the few days left before his execution. The opening
paragraphs bear comparison with the opening of Chandler's short story
"Red Wind."