An ex-private eye turned gun for hire named Malone is hired to retrieve a suitcase from a building full of armed mobsters, but a violent shootout ensues and Malone is eventually left as the only survivor. Suspecting a set-up, he retains the only noteworthy item contained in the case - a small painted animal referred to as "the meaning of love" - for himself, prompting several different parties in the employ of a local gangster - Whitmore - to pursue Malone in attempt to discern the meaning of the case's contents.