Having just been picked up in relation to a shooting and a potential murder, Stanley Maxton relays his recent past to the Los Angeles police. A war vet, he was hospitalized at a VA facility for issues sustained during the war, he needing to feel able to rejoin general life before being released when he hoped to restart his career as a drummer. He tells how he met racketeer Sonny Johnson and how and why he started to work for Sonny in the "insurance" business, code for Sonny's criminal activities, rather than pursue what was his original thought of getting back into music. He tells how he met dancer Jane Tafford, who only wanted to date men who could further her career, which Stanley could not, the nature of their relationship due to that issue combined with he being in love with her and wanting to marry her. And he tells of how he met Fluff, the owner/operator of Fluff's Dixieland, a club, and how and why he became a fixture at Fluff's. Over the course of the discussions between Stanley and the police, the nature of the investigation changes.