A mature and debonair man is entertaining his elegant young lady friend with champagne in a posh hotel apartment. With seductive piano music tinkling in the background, he watches her safely lock away her expensive diamond necklace, then receives a phone call and excuses himself for a short while. The following morning when Nick and Sylvie are in the office, Sylvie reads in the newspaper headlines that wealthy socialite Christine Atherton has been murdered in her hotel room. Then Nick has a phone call from the Police Department to inform him that his father has been arrested for her murder. Through Nick reminiscing about his past to Sylvie, we learn that his father, Jack Slaughter, abandoned fatherhood to become a professional con-artist who now lives off wealthy women. Nick though, does not believe that his father killed Christine for her diamond necklace.