 Three men gun down Solly Pitts,  rebel  against the racket-ridden Longshoremen s Union. Before dying, Pitts tells his wife  Cockeye  Cook was one of the killers...but won t repeat it to the police, nor will anyone else help them. It seems it s a dockyard tradition to handle private battles without help. Bill Keating, new to the D.A. s office, is just naive enough to think he can make a case against Cook; but his efforts seem to be leading only to further violence...