A burned-out New York police detective teams up with a college psychoanalyst to track down a vicious serial killer randomly stalking and killing various young women around the city.

Roger Pitman is a petty thief who makes a deal with the police to use bait money to trap other criminals. But when he gets the cash, Roger can't resist the temptation and steals part of it. He runs off to Miami Beach, but now lives in fear of the crooks that he set up as well as the police.