Optimist Sally Sullivan, a recently widowed mother of two supporting her family as a waitress in a working-class diner, talks her way into a job as assistant to grumpy, cynical private eye Bernie Fox.
Breaking the law becomes a family affair when Bernie's cousin escapes from jail and asks Bernie for help to visit his dying mother. Then, one escapee becomes two and Bernie finds that his cousin's mother is nowhere near her deathbed.
He has a lot of money, is good at math and can't remember his name. Bernie and Sally have an amnesiac on their hands. They end up in an all-night roam around the city with Mr. X as he tries to remember who he is.
It's a case of '60s memories and '90s troubles; a once-hot singing group, a cancelled booking agent Chick LeRoi needs help. While everyone tries to find another gig for The Shadows, memories of other times keep intruding on Bernie and Sally.
It's a moral dilemma: Bernie knows who killed Arthur Pleasant but how can he get the police to figure it out for themselves when they have Bernie I.D.'d as a prime suspect? Sally stands by her scruples when Bernie suggests planting evidence.
Bernie wins at the track, then discovers that he is being tailed by a tax investigator whose list of prospects include all Bernie's friends. Attempting to escape an audit, the group discovers the tax man's secret and must turn the tables on him.
Things get very crazy when Bernie sends Sally to deliver a summons and she comes back with a baby. Pursued by both the child's young father and a welfare worker, Bernie and Sally try to put things back in order.
Each of our heroes have clients with something in common. The second Mrs. Hardy wants Bernie to find her dog; the first Mrs. Hardy wants Sally to find her husband who was buried a year ago. It is, indeed, a very delicate case.
When aging comic Syd Money dies mid-joke at the Pacific Café, Sally sets out to find someone to go to the old man's funeral. Sally tries to get Bernie involved in searching for someone who loved Syd.
Is erratic pitcher Reilly Jones throwing games, or is he hiding a different problem? Bernie has been hired to find out but, in the end, it is Sally who solves the mystery and gives Reilly his second chance.
Multiple personalities create multiple problems for Bernie. Is his new client really a countess? Sally wants to help, but it's not easy when Chick corrals her into a temporary gig as a showgirl.
Sally and Bernie have to find a reluctant murder witness and bring him in to testify. When they get him onto a train, other characters enter the cast; a mystery woman, a drunk man, and a man with a gun.