Monday morning, March 6, 1922. A young private eye named Dwight Blake sits in his office in the Preston building, counting himself lucky to have been accepted as partner with a 25% stake to William Foster. Foster and Blake, it has a good ring to it, and the income from Foster's practice will be vital while Blake gets himself set up.

A knock comes on the door, and Janice (the office secretary) sticks her head round. Dwight has a client, his first! To create an impression Dwight pretends to be busy and keeps the client delayed a few minutes but then Janice shows in a pretty and expensively dressed dame in in her late 30s. She explains that she is the wife of Lloyd Haines, a city councilman, and that she thinks her husband is having an affair. Working late, perfume on his shirt, all the signs are there. Feigning surprise, Dwight promises to look into it.

Before he's finished Janice appears again, a second client has arrived before the first has even left. Making his farewells to Mrs Haines Dwight then meets a heavy set working class man, Arnold Warhawski, a docker by trade. Warhawski is another doubting spouse, noting that his wife has been happy around the house of late, clear evidence of infidelity. Dwight promises to look into this too, and with a spring in his step asks Foster for loan of his car and sets out to tail the councilman.

Meanwhile, across town, young newspaper reporter Lila Malone has started on the City Examiner. The editor calls her in, and tells her he wants an interview of the bank president, who did something in some war sometime. Human interest. He also wants her to look into a painting and joinery firm, the Manson family, who did a lousy job on his extension, he wants dirt on them so he can get a refund. Sighing, Malone heads out and over to the bank, to meet with the president and get what looks like an unpromising story out of the way.

She meets Thomas Hunyadi, a bank officer, who takes her up to meet the president of the bank - Charles W Grant. A bluff and hearty man in his mid '40s with a cavalry saber behind his vast and largely empty desk, he explains that he was a rough rider in the Spanish-American war of 1898, but first he spends an hour on his early childhood and how he grew up learning good old fashioned American values of hard work and fair play. Lila notes that he keeps a gun in his desk, and that he and his vice-president plainly loathe each other, but otherwise spends two hours on a human interest story that will later end up on page six.

Meanwhile again, rookie cop George Gunnarson is walking on his beat with his partner Patrolman John Franklin. Franklin introduces him to the local folk, taking some free fruit and coffee along the way, and showing Gunnarson Velma's Diner, a place owned by the Tolino mob where Franklin is given free breakfast and coffee each day. Despite these minor infringements, Franklin seems an honest cop, and keen to let Gunnarson find his feet. Minutes later, Gunnarson sees a man outside GC Hurley's Five and Dime ("The Prettiest Assistants in the City" it's said) yelling and generally causing a disturbance. Franklin holds back, while Gunnarson moves forward to ask the man to move on. It swiftly becomes apparent to Gunnarson that the man is drunk, belligerent and possibly dangerous and finally matters come to a head with the man throwing a punch at the young officer, who swiftly brings his nighstick out and lays the man to the ground. A bottle of whisky rolls from his pocket, and is picked up by young Prohibition Agent Jeff Poliakowski who is leaving the Five and Dime just in time to see the bottle fall. Noting it is an expensive import label, Laphraoig all the way from Scotland in England, Poliakowski accompanies Gunnarson with his first arrest down to the station.

Down the station, interrogation reveals that the drunk is one Carl Broman, an unemployed lorry driver who used to run booze for the Tolino family, originally from Canada and then later runs from a chemist right here in the city. The chemist, one Stefan Zavislak (it is later discovered) works out of the Preston building, where he issues quality imported liquor on the back of scrips written by a Dr Randall Sheppard working out of the same building. Carl threatened the chemist, who put him in touch with a Heiny Franz who works as an assistant at Pitzer's News Corner and sells product on the side for the chemist. The Laphroaig though turns out to be rebottled hooch, not the original good stuff but cheap home-made product put in a used bottle for reselling.

Lila, her interview done, spends the day and evening looking into the Manson family business, discovering in newspaper and civic records that it is owned by Donny Manson and a Francis Caldwell who acts as a silent partner. Donny runs the business with his brother Bobby Manson, who has a record having been convicted of bribery in 1919. The Mansons employ a further three ex-cons as painter/jobbers, running foul of a city ordinance forbidding the employing of ex-cons on the city payroll. Digging further reveals a range of city contracts though, from the windows at city hall to the plumbing at Gunnarson's station house.

Blake, his day of trailing Councilman Haines a washout with no results, decides to go to Harrigan's Speakeasy which he figures is where a politician would go if he was going to such a place. There he bribes a waitress by the name of Hattie who tells him that Councilman Haines regularly goes there with a pretty redhead, and should be there Tuesday night.

The next day, Blake goes to the Warhawski residence, flat 12 in a grimy tenement. He sits outside, and eventually a handsome salesman in a not-to-new suit heads in and spends an hour and a half with Mrs Warhawski. Satisfied that this is evidence of adultery, Blake meets Warhawski and gives him the bad news.

Malone continues to investigate the Manson family, discovering that Francis Caldwell was once investigated for investment fraud (though never charged) and that he is a member of a proud (and rich) old East Coast family, the Caldwell family. His older sister, Melinda Caldwell, married a local politician who now sits on the Civic Appropriations Committee - Councilman Lloyd Haines. Realising she may have more than a story about local builders doing lousy work, Malone keeps this development from her editor, nervous he would take it off her and give it to a more experienced reporter. She does share what she has found though with old friend rookie Patrolman George Gunnarson, who speaks with Police Captain Billy Brown who reveals that he chose the Malone's to redo the station after a recommendation at some political dinner he attended and expresses surprise that on his second day on the job Gunnarson is already coming to him with complaints about facilities.

Meanwhile, Agent Poliakowski meets with his superior, District Commissioner Mario Antonelli who tells the young agent to leave the speakeasies alone so they can keep an eye on one end of the supply chain while they build their case. Antonelli urges Poliakowski to bring all his evidence to him alone, commenting that corruption is rife within the agency. Fellow agents Burns and Beck show little interest in befriending the young agent, who therefore appears to be on his own.

Later that day, PI Blake is approached by Warhawski, who tells him his wife explained that the salesman was selling extendable brushes of which she now has a full set, and that all can be innocently explained. He refuses to pay unless Blake has definite proof of adultery. Blake convinces Malone to act as his photographer, and climbs up the fire escape to the Warhawski building where they photograph the naked Mrs Warhawski and the salesman embracing in the kitchen, alerting them both and ending with the naked salesman chasing them into the street waving an extendable brush handle. They get away in time, leaving the salesman standing naked in the street as the fire escape retracts behind him, and taking his photograph for a later page seven story about a naked maniac terrorising the downtown area. Word has it the salesman is later fired from his job.

That night, Blake sits in Harrigan's, where he sees Councilman Haines arrive and the redhead arrive shortly after that. Haines has a great table, is greeted personally by Ward Boss Mike Harrigan and gets the best champagne and star treatment all night. The two leave separately, but the redhead appears to be a regular lover, not a hooker. Following her home, Blake finds her address and the next day trails her to her work where he learns she is Kate Hopkins, a shopgirl at the Rumple Department Store ("The only wrinkle is in our name!") lingerie counter. Revealing all to Mrs Haines, she indicates she wants photographic proof for a later divorce hearing, and Blake convinces her to meet with Malone in the hope she can manage the scandal which will inevitably break when the divorce becomes public.

Also that Wednesday, Agent Poliakowski rigs up a wire on the chemist's phone, running it into Foster and Blake's offices in the same building where the secretary is instructed to take a note of any conversations.

Malone is sent by her editor to find some clients of a Dr Sheppard who is apparently treating famous families for scandalous disorders, in the hope of a revelatory society piece. Malone feigns a fainting spell outside Dr Sheppard's office in the ever popular Preston Building, and while he and his secretary are out getting her refreshments after some clever ruses on her part goes through his files, discovering he is prescribing booze and narcotics for many of the finest families in the city. He also works closely with a private sanatorium, the Tomley clinic, though she lacks the time to work out the exact connection.

That Wednesday night our gallant band hold their weekly poker game, compare notes and discuss their next steps forward. The wiretap reveals talks between Dr Sheppard and the chemist, and between the chemist and Heiny Franz, armed with this knowledge, and with the fruits of their research and investigations, the foursome play long into the night and enjoy a brief respite from their lonely fight against the corruption choking the very heart of the city.

The very next day, Blake confronts Warhawski with the evidence of his wife's infidelity. Warhawski finally pays up, though even now he can only manage a lousy 20 bucks. He does, however, promise friendship and a favour owed.