Sadistic killer-for-hire Raven (Alan Ladd) becomes enraged when his latest job is paid off in marked bills. Vowing to track down his double-crossing boss, nightclub executive Gates (Laird Cregar), Raven sits beside Gates' lovely new employee, Ellen (Veronica Lake), on a train out of town. Although Ellen is engaged to marry the police lieutenant (Robert Preston) who's hunting down Raven, she decides to try and set the misguided hit man straight as he hides from the cops and plots his revenge.