He has one week to go. To occupy his time, he watches his neighbours who live across the courtyard. There’s a woman dubbed “Miss Lonelyhearts”, there’s a newlywed couple, an energetic dancer dubbed “Miss Torso”, a music composer, and a few others. There’s also someone (Raymond Burr) who may or may not have just murdered his wife. And that’s the meat of the plot, as Stewart starts to play amateur sleuth, roping in his care assistant (Thelma Ritter), his patient girlfriend (Grace Kelly), and a friend from the police force (Wendell Corey).