in brighton in 1935, a gangster named kite is found dead, shortly after a newspaper published a story exposing local rackets and gang wars. kite's old gang, now led by the psychopathic teenaged hoodlum pinkie brown, learns that the reporter who wrote the story, fred hale, will be in town for one day for a promotional stunt (similar to the real-life "lobby lud" promotion). fred will play "kolley kibber", leaving cards around town that can be redeemed for a monetary prize, with a larger prize for the first person who publicly identifies fred as kolley kibber. pinkie and the gang hold fred responsible for kite's death. they confront fred in a local pub, threaten him, and pursue him through the crowded resort town before pinkie finally murders fred on an amusement ride. while fred is attempting to elude the gang, he meets brassy, outgoing ida arnold, a middle-aged entertainer currently appearing in a local show. ida takes a liking to fred and notes that he appears to be afraid. the police think that fred's death is a heart attack or suicide, but ida suspects foul play and begins her own amateur investigation.