A thief puts his life in danger when he becomes an unwitting witness to a murder scene. Harvey Rozier has planned the murder carefully. Unseen, he slips out of the concert hall and sneaks home, knowing that if all goes perfectly he will have an hour to stab his wife to death. But things don't go smoothly, and he is pursuing the bleeding woman through the kitchen when he trips over a toolbox, and finds himself face-to-face with a shocked cat burglar. George 'Pitty-Pitty' Patniks had planned his crime even more thoroughly than Rozier, but was not counting on stumbling into a homicide. He escapes before Rozier can stop him -- a witness to a hideous crime that he cannot report to the police. Long-suffering Chicago homicide detective Abe Lieberman suspects Rozier instantly, but cannot find enough proof to arrest him. To bring this killer to justice, he will have to find the thief who saw it all -- before Pitty-Pitty Patniks's mouth gets shut forever.