A lady private eye on her first job working a routine divorce case teams up with a cynical, heavy-drinking police detective after inadvertently stumbling upon a much bigger caper involving a mysterious fugitive.

Private eye Philip Marlowe is hired by ex-con Moose Malloy to find his girlfriend, a former lounge dancer. While also investigating the murder of a client and the theft of a jade necklace, Marlowe becomes entangled with seductress Helen Grayle and discovers a web of dark secrets that are better left hidden.