After killing Ed Brown's fiancée seven years previously, Tom Dayton, a sociopath with a hatred of female authority figures, is released on parole. Ed is certain that Dayton is still dangerous, but the authorities do not share his concerns.

A policeman is shot and killed by an assailant. The evidence points to the murderer being a local thief, currently enjoying a reign of terror in San Francisco, but soon the investigations lead elsewhere.