What at the beginning looks to be a simple traffic accident between a cab and commercial truck near the San Francisco pier turns into a criminal investigation led by SFPD Lt. Ben Guthrie when two people are killed in the process. What Guthrie discovers in his investigation is an Asia to US heroin smuggling operation, he unsure if the people carrying the actual drugs - in this case of the cab/truck accident, otherwise respected Philip Dressler with the San Francisco Opera - are part of the criminal ring or just unsuspecting mules in they carrying what look solely to be touristy curios but which have the packs of heroin hidden inside. The focus then shifts to two hired guns, Dancer and Julian, who have just made their way to San Francisco, their role to pick up the heroin in the next shipment - three sets of unsuspecting carriers on a just arriving ship from the Far East - and place the heroin in a prearranged drop-off location by 16:00 for the unseen person who hired them, they only knowing him by the moniker "The Man", before they once again leave town, their job done. While older Julian is a moderating influence on the more volatile Dancer, they both are aware that they, meaning Dancer as the only one of the two packing heat, may necessarily need to kill the carriers if the situation arises, the fact that one set of carriers is a single mother and her young daughter beside the point.—Huggo