A baby is found abandoned in the Chief's van, following an explosion at an airport. The Chief suspects that the child's mother was the intended victim of the attack, and plans to make her come forward, using the baby as bait.

The accountant for the Police Pension Fund confesses to the murder of his secretary, but all of the evidence suggests that he could not possibly be guilty, instead pointing to another culprit and a man merely suffering from alcohol-induced hallucinations. As always, however, the Chief does not go along merely with what is 'obvious'.

A sleazy magazine prints stories against the SFPD, and Ironside in particular, using the tale of a vanished actor as an example of the department's uselessness. When those involved with the story start receiving parcel bombs, it becomes clear that somebody does not want the disappearance investigated; and the Chief is all the more determined to uncover the truth.