Arthur Winant (Don DeFore), a stranger in Chicago, commits suicide after losing $5,000, which did not belong to him, in a crooked card game. The group of gamblers, of which Danny Haley (Charlton Heston) is a member, worries about the dangers of cashing the $5,000 cashier’s check, but this is the least of their worries when one of the group (Ed Begley) is found hanged, and Police Captain Garvey (Dean Jagger) starts an investigation. Then it becomes known that Arthur had a mentally deranged brother, Sidney (Mike Mazurki) who is out to get the gamblers who fleeced Arthur.