A crazed killer is loose on the streets of Buffalo, NY, terrifying the citizenry. In three short weeks, he has brutally tortured and slain five women. The beleaguered police force turns to Bobby Costa, a brilliant, but troubled homicide detective to end this reign of terror. However, when eyewitnesses come forward to place Costa at the scene of two of the murders, the Mayor orders the Police Chief to remove Costa from the case, and to begin an investigation of his involvement in the crimes. The Chief, a staunch supporter of his lead investigator, goes out on a limb and stalls the order for removal for two days. Costa, besieged by romantic and other personal problems, is plunged into a desperate race against time to make an arrest. Can Costa unmask a killer in time . . . or is he actually the fiend the police are hunting?