A Chicago reporter finds himself stuck in a decade-old murder investigation when he follows a newspaper ad offering a cash reward for information leading to the arrest of the killer.

Bobo is a free-spirited wanderer who docks in a Pacific seaside town with his buddy Tiny, a sponge who wants to leave. After a night of drunken debauchery, Bobo awakens on a strange barge wearing the cap of a dead man. Afraid he has committed the crime, Bobo prepares to skip town with Tiny but is delayed when he meets Anna, who he rescues from drowning herself in the surf. They fall in love and open a business together selling bait. Jealous and desperate...