New Orleans After Dark

At a New Orleans nightclub, drug syndicate boss Nick Livorno orders henchman Omega Rivetti to dispose of Mary Sherman, a dancer at the club, because her heroin addiction may expose Livorno's smuggling racket. Mary's murder prompts homicide detective Vic Beaujac to summon his partner, John Conroy, who is about to take a long-overdue fishing vacation with his wife Jean and son Pat. Based on information from the owner of the hotel in which Mary's body is found and an inside tip, Vic and John are assigned to the case. Meanwhile, Livorno orders Rivetti to get rid of Mary's roommate and fellow-addict, Terry Ames, before she can be questioned by the police. Rivetti locates Terry in a jazz club where he stabs her at a back table. The performing band's trombone player, Papa Sebastian, is the sole witness to the murder and, frightened, goes into hiding. Noting the connection between Mary and Terry, Vic and John question several musicians in hopes of tracing Sebastian. One contact reveals that someone claiming to be a detective stopped by earlier and by his description, John recognizes Rivetti, whom he encountered some weeks earlier. Vic and John hasten to the slum neighborhood where their contacts sent Rivetti and arrive in time to save Sebastian and kill Rivetti. Later at headquarters, Vic and John receive pathology information that links Rivetti to Mary's murder. Just as the partners congratulate themselves for closing their double murder case, Carl, head of the narcotics division, asks Vic and John for assistance. Carl explains that Rivetti, an ex-convict, had strong connections with several drug lords, including mobster Livorno, which could be the lead they have waited for to break New Orleans' escalating heroin trade. Carl relates that Livorno was deported to his home in Sicily after serving a prison sentence, but rumors indicate that he has returned to America. Knowing that Livorno favors importing businesses as fronts for his illegal activities, Carl asks the partners to go undercover as merchant seaman to explore the docks for leads. Vic and John agree, although John is distressed about having to disappoint Jean and Pat again by another postponement of their vacation. The next day, outfitted as seaman, Vic and John visit numerous bars. At one, Vic is approached by streetwise Sandra who responds to his query for drugs by recommending another bar in the city's French quarter. There Vic and John meet Sandra's contact Pete and after describing their heroin smuggling operaton, offer to enlarge their activities for a cut of the profits. Pete seeks approval from his boss, Solitaire Bates, who instructs him to bring only one of the men to his warehouse location. Vic and John flip a coin to decide and John goes with Pete, while Vic is ordered to return to Sandra. Shortly thereafter, Bates receives a call from Livorno informing them that he was warned that the man on his way to meet Bates is an undercover detective. Angered by Bates's laxness, Livorno sends his own man Blackie to the meeting with John to assure there will be no further gaffs. Meanwhile, concerned over being split up from John, Vic telephones Carl for backup assistance. When John arrives at Bates's, he is immediately knocked unconscious. Advised that Vic is a policeman, Sandra tells him that Bates has changed his mind and wishes to meet him also. At the warehouse, Vic and the revived John attack Blackie, Pete and another of Bates's men just as Carl and other police arrive. Only Blackie escapes. Learning of Bates's arrest, Livorno contacts one of his main dealers, Caprini, and orders him to shut down, despite Caprini's fear that his good customer, Benny Fresno, will be angered. That night, as an excuse to close down his importing shop, Caprini breaks into the store to feign a robbery, but is forced to kill a policeman during his getaway. Vic and John are assigned to investigate and after questioning Caprini, learn that only a box of cigars, in which the owner kept his money, has been stolen. Discovering a cigar on the floor, Vic retrieves it and notes that it does not match any of the brands that Caprini sells. At headquarters, John receives a tip from an informer about Fresno and he and Vic track him to a cheap hotel, where they find the addict stabbed to death. They notice two cigars broken in half but unsmoked. Vic recognizes the brand name as matching the cigar from Caprini's, and after breaking it in half, finds a capsule of heroin inside. Caprini is brought to headquarters for questioning and although he does not deny the police accusations, he refuses to cooperate because he has a sister in Italy whose safety is threatened. A police informer relays this to Blackie, who telephones Livorno and they arrange to meet at Livorno's warehouse to dispose of the drug-filled cigars. Meanwhile, John and Vic examine customs records to discover that Livorno is the importer of the unusual brand of cigars and head off to Livorno's warehouse. In a confrontation with the police, Blackie is killed and Livorno arrested. The drug ring busted, John at last is able to take his family on vacation.