A suspicious fire destroys an historic hotel, where a stranger plunges to his death from an upper-story window. Newsman Kieran "Red" Maguire takes to the dark streets to unravel the mystery. It's the summer of 1955 in the legendary mining city of Butte, Montana. The Bugle crime reporter uncovers clues leading to death threats and gunshots in the night. More fires ignite in uptown buildings. Maguire and his reliable source for inside crime news, police detective Harold "Duke" Ferndale, find themselves under siege from all directions. Maguire copes with his alcoholic mother while his love interest, Irene "Honey" Rossini, begs him to quit the newspaper business instead of risking his life to pry into well-kept secrets. Danger stalks Red Maguire, and his quest for truth leads to a fierce confrontation that Honey feared most.