 Grant Elliot accidentally hits Officer Len Dorsey when he panics during a routine traffic stop. Grant takes the injured officer to the hospital, but cannot explain why there were numerous auto parts in the back of his truck. He later learns that his father Charles has been stealing auto accessories and selling them to onetime petty thief Ralph Yates for quick cash. Charles asks Grant to deny the thefts, and implies that the boy should take responsibility for them if need be to protect the family. Dan Mathews does not believe Grant is guilty of the thefts, so he and Sergeant Betts launch a determined investigation to expose Charles as a pusillanimous felon who would ask his own son to take the blame for his crimes.