***SPOILERS*** With his wife Chris, Laurie Heineman, expecting to give birth any day now Marty Karlinsky, Zooey Hall, does a number of odd jobs collecting bookie money for big time gangster Dempsey, George Murdock, out of Weiss', Henry Corden, shoe repair shop. It just happens that Marty was ambushed by the local neighbor mugger Lou Singer, Michael Vandervar, who ended up getting shot and killed by Marty with his own gun while the bookie case of $50,000.00 and notebook of all the bookies working for Dempsey ended up getting lost , by dropping down a manhole, in the struggle.
As things happened retired cobbler Alkex Zubatuk, Sam Jaffe, just came on the scene and being a good friend of Marty's grandpa Victor, Luther Adler, decided to take the rap, Singer's death, for him knowing that at his advance age, in the early 80's, he doesn't have long to live so what's a year or two behind bars for him anyway! It's Let. Det. Mike Stone, Karl Malden, and his partner Inspect. Steve Keller, Michael Douglas, who see right through Alex's scam and know he's lying through his teeth but with him confessing, as well as being in possession of the murder weapon, there's nothing that they can do about it. That's until Dempsey sends a number of his goons to work Alex over, in recovering the 50 G's and bookie notebook, that he begins to realize just how foolish he is.
****SPOILERS*** It was in fact Marty who got the worst of it, with Dempsy's barley laying a hand Victor, by getting kidnapped beaten and threatened to be dumped alive off the Golden Gate Bridge if he doesn't tell them where the money and notebook is which he in fact has no idea of. It's both Stone & Keller who track down were Dempsey is holding Marty and rescue him before Dempsey's strong-arm men can do him in. Victor got his wish by preventing Marty from doing any time behind bars for working for Dempsey and killing Singer, in self-defense, only because Det. Let. Stone had a soft spot for him by working at his shoe shop when he was a little boy. That by Det. Let. Stone putting in a good word in for him to the local D.A Gerald O'Brian, John Kerr, all charges against Marty as well as Victor were dropped. Making the two both eligible to vote in the next presidential as well as local elections as well as serve on jury duty. A privilege provided to any American citizen who doesn't have a criminal record!