James 'Jim' Vanning, [Aldo Ray], wanders late at night along a busy Los Angeles sidewalk, avoiding bright lights and passing police cars, while he is secretly watched by an insurance investigator named Ben Fraser, [James Gregory]. At a corner, Fraser asks for a light, and the two men share a brief, telling exchange in which Vanning reveals he is a war veteran who fought on Okinawa. Vanning then slips into a bar and sits beside Marie Gardner, [Anne Bancroft], who has been nursing her drink because she cannot pay for it. Vanning graciously pays for her drink, and the two end up sharing a quiet dinner. The story then pivots between Vanning’s movements and Fraser and his wife, Laura Fraser, [Jocelyn Brando], as they discuss the man they believe is connected to a murder and a missing fortune. Fraser’s true aim is to recover $350,000 in stolen money for his company, a motive that adds a sharp edge to every interaction.
During the dinner, Marie reveals she works as a model, while Vanning, a trained commercial artist, keeps his past largely to himself. After they leave, two men—John, [Brian Keith], and the brutal Red, [Rudy Bond]—confront them, thanking Marie for distracting Vanning and then driving him to a deserted spot by a cluster of oil pumps. They demand that Vanning disclose the whereabouts of the $350,000; he maintains that he does not know, and a tense moment intensifies when they discover a slip of paper bearing Marie’s name, address, and phone number.
The film then unspools in intermittent flashbacks that deepen the mystery surrounding Vanning’s troubles. Near Moose, Wyoming, Vanning and his friend, Dr. Edward Gurston, known as Doc Gurston, find themselves entangled with John and Red after a bank robbery that left a guard dead. The robbers plan to steal Doc’s car, but want no witnesses. Red shoots Doc with a rifle and then fires at Vanning, attempting a staged murder-suicide. The shot misses Vanning, and Red thinks him dead because a ricocheted rock left a smear of blood. When Vanning comes to, the thieves have gone, taking Doc’s medical bag instead of the money. Realizing their mistake, the killers return, and Vanning flees with the money through the snow to a deserted shack.
In the present, Vanning narrowly escapes John and Red and heads to Marie’s apartment to confront her, believing she set him up. Marie swears she was an innocent bystander, and Vanning convinces her that he did not kill Doc, despite public reports. When they spot John and Red emerging from a car on the street, they slip out the building’s back door and seek refuge in Vanning’s apartment. He explains that he wants to recover the Wyoming money to prove his innocence and acknowledges that he cannot remember exactly where he left it, so he must search anew.
Marie agrees to accompany him to Wyoming after finishing a modeling job at a fashion show. Vanning heads to the city bus station to buy tickets to Moose, followed by Fraser, who purchases a seat on the same bus. Marie showcases several outfits at the fashion show and keeps an eye on the audience, where she spots John and Red. The moment Vanning arrives in Moose, she breaks away to warn him, and the pair run off together.
In Moose, Fraser reveals his true identity and his belief in Vanning’s innocence. They rent a car and drive toward the campsite, heading for the shack Vanning recalls. They soon realize that John and Red have beaten them there and have found the bag with the money. A tense standoff ensues, and Red, intent on keeping all the money for himself, shoots John and escapes toward a nearby snowplow. Vanning manages to knock Red out of the cab and steer the plow away, but the machine barrels forward and collides with Red, bringing the pursuit to a deadly end.
The night sews together fear, memory, and motive as the trio’s alliance shifts and the mystery of the missing money moves toward its dramatic, snowy confrontation.
