(intro narration) Night. Dozens of policemen are having a big shootout with escaped convict Laurent, who is holed up in a large steel works plant. 2 officers are dead; Lieutenant Lassiter has sent for Cat. Lassiter explains to Cat that they can't rush Laurent, he has a hostage: nurse Valerie. Cat is an expert at high steel and high wires; so is Laurent. Complicating matters is the fact Laurent once saved Cat's life; Cat figures he still owes him, and will try to take him alive.

Daylight. Laurent, armed with a high-powered rifle and a gun, is somewhere on the upper floors of a factory building, which consists of steel girders and exposed pipes (no walls, as if it were still under construction). The police fire to create a diversion, but Laurent sees Cat enter the site. Cat, silently as a panther, prowls about the upper stories-- but Laurent still manages to sneak up behind Cat and get the drop on him. Cat says he comes as a friend; Laurent retorts, ""To capture me and lock me b