 Dan Mathews stops for breakfast in the small and isolated town of Larchmont. He finds the residents (and even the county medical officer) unwilling to talk to him and behaving suspiciously. He decides to investigate when an inquiry to headquarters reveals that an elderly local man is driving a stolen convertible. Relentless questioning finally results in an admission that general store owner Frank Wilkins had killed a man in self defense the previous evening. Dan Mathews interrupts a makeshift funeral service for the dead man and learns that he had been wanted for robbery and murder. He also learns that there was a valid reason for the townspeople s attempts to conceal Wilkins  actions.