After he's thrown off the force for hitting his superior, ex-cop Edward G. Robinson is hired as an "advisor" by city crime boss Barton MacLane, but gunman Humphrey Bogart doesn't trust him.After Police Captain Dan McLaren becomes police commissioner former detective Johnny Blake knocks him down convincing rackets boss Al Kruger that Blake is sincere in his effort to join the mob. "Buggs" Fenner thinks Blake is a police agent.