 Jimmy French is a ne er-do-well who meets the shy but attractive Maude Sheridan in a diner. Maude tells him she is a secretary to a well known psychotherapist and he manages to track her down and ask her out on a date. They begin seeing each other regularly and she is obviously attracted to him but he finally tells her the truth: he can t keep a regular job and is heavily in debt. His solution is for Maude to give him some of her employers files so he can blackmail them. She reluctantly agrees and he picks the case of M.J. Harrison, a successful real estate entrepreneur. He tells Harrison to give him $10000 or else he will make public his affair with an 18 year-old girl he has been seeing. The next day, Maude s employer has some shocking news for her about Jimmy and Mr. Harrision.