Before a shocked cast and a packed audience, Raymond Stark furiously stabs his glorious leading lady and ex-lover, Elena, with a fake knife, but she smilingly rises to take her bows. Later that evening, she is found stabbed to death by a replica of the stage prop. Raymond is arrested, and his friend, Lou Massey, reluctantly agrees to defend him. Lou and his girlfriend Emily set out to investigate, but they soon become entangled in a gang of jewel thieves and a second death before the two unravel the threads of love and evil that led to Elena's murder.