 Phil Beecher comes home from a year in prison for vehicular manslaughter of Aggie Norris, the sheriff s daughter. His wife Kathi forgives him, although the people of the town despise him. Charlotte, Aggie s sister, stops Deputy Sheriff Ward Lewis from beating Phil to a pulp, but her kindness is part of a plot to discredit Phil. Charlotte and the sawmill manager, Norman Thurston, invite Phil to the mill on a pretext. Charlotte is killed, and Phil is arrested for murder and theft of the mill payroll. By coincidence Perry Mason is vacationing in the village and agrees to defend Phil, putting him in conflict with his old friend, Sheriff Eugene Norris.