 Ex-Chief of Detectives Virgil Tibbs returns to Sparta as a full-fledged lawyer. He and his wife Althea have separated, and she has taken their twins back to live in Philadelphia. At Virgil s first appearance in court, Judge Sims appoints him to represent pro bono an accused murderer, Delbert Pike. Pike wants to plead self-defense, but a dying declaration from the victim, Eli Chambers, blames Pike directly. Notorious womanizer Pike was sleeping with Chambers  wife Amanda, who offers to testify against her lover as a witness for the prosecution.