 Hitchhiking migrant worker Ralph Parry is killed by a blow on the head, but a staged automobile crash makes the death appear accidental. When an autopsy of Parry s body reveals that the death was actually a homicide, Dan Mathews and his officers investigate further. They learn that several other migrant workers have recently died in similar "accidents" and that they all had life insurance claims paid to mysterious beneficiaries that got their mail at Hutkins  Country Store. Hutkins repeatedly attempts to divert suspicion toward ex-con Hank Willis, but Dan knows that Willis is not the guilty party. He sets a trap in order to prove that Hutkins is guilty of multiple murders to perpetrate insurance fraud.