Mickey Prohaska is a small-time insurance agent looking for one big score to get him out of frigid Wisconsin. But Mickey's clever con spirals out of control when an unstable locksmith turns the tables and raises the stakes higher than Mickey ever imagined.

Insurance agent Abe Holt is investigating the suspicious death of the driver of a burned-out car. He must find out whether or not the dead man - a conman with a record - could possibly have been the victim of an attempt to swindle the insurance company.