On the evening of his decoration for bringing a murderer to justice, Washington DC Police Captain Frank Matthews' wife, and her lover are murdered in bed. Jailed as the prime suspect, with the aforementioned murderer released on a technicality Matthews escapes in search of the man he believes to be the real killer.

In post-war Cape Breton, a doctor's efforts to tutor a deaf and mute woman are undermined when she is raped, and the resulting pregnancy causes scandal to swirl.