The quiet life of small-town gas station owner Jeff Bailey is interrupted when a figure from his shady past, small-time crook Joe Stephanos, recognizes him. Stephanos' boss, crooked gambler Whit Sterling, had hired Jeff to track down Kathie Moffat, a girlfriend who shot Whit and made off with $40,000 of his. Jeff and Kathie fell in love, but she left him to go back to Sterling, who now wants Jeff to settle a few old scores.
