- The smothering death of an elderly woman is blamed on an at-large serial killer, but Ironside notices enough differences in this case to see if a second murderer was trying to give that impression.
- An old woman, Esther Garrison, is found strangled in her apartment. She is the fifth elderly woman that is murdered in the same way in the same area around Bradley Plaza in Bayside. The police are looking for a serial killer, but Ironside thinks it's not the same killer this time, because several details are different. He thinks that the killer consciously uses the four previous cases to hide his own homicide, just as the best place to hide a leaf is in a forest. Ironside is sure that Pierre Dupont, Mrs. Garrison's business manager, is the murder. Dupont has the motif, because after her death he will be the executive of her estate. The problem is that Dupont's wife gives him alibi for the evening the murder was committed, and that Ironside has no evidence. To catch the serial murder Ironside sets up a trap. Officer Eve Whitfield is disguised as an old woman, and put to bed in an apartment in Bradley Plaza. The serial killer is lured into the trap and seized. He confesses that he is the murder of all the strangled women, but Ironside still believes that Dupont is the one who murdered Esther Garrison.—Maths Jesperson {maths.jesperson1@comhem.se}
- A wealthy elderly woman, Mrs Garrison, reads a newspaper in bed. The headline reads - the Bayside murderer has hit again. The doorbell rings, she answers and is strangled on her bed - leaving his footprint behind on the newspaper. This makes her the fifth old lady to die in this way. After looking at the crime scene, Ironside notices a bottle of milk at her door and gives it to Eve.
Ironside (Raymond Burr) suspects a second killer has used the Strangler's MO to disguise his crime. The murderer had entered through ground floor windows in the prior 4 incidents. This time the murderer was let into a fifth floor apartment seemingly without struggle. Ironside suspects the elderly widow new the assailant.
Ironside follows the trail to the victim's financial adviser, Dupont (John Larch), who made her wealthy. He is also an ex-con having served time for accounting fraud. During an interview, where Dupont admitted commingling his money with his client's, another murder of an elderly woman in Bayside occurred, exculpating Dupont. Dupont's wife also corroborated his being home all night of the Garrison murder.
Going back to the drawing board, Ironside stares at a map with pins in it showing the location of all the Bayside murders (except the one he suspects as being a copy-cat crime). He notes that all have views of 'The Plaza' and surmises that the murderer stakes out his victims from 'The Plaza'. Eve (Barbara Anderson) is dressed up in makeup to make her look old and moves into a first room apartment with a view of The Plaza to lure the murder to her (she is skilled in Judo). Eve is attacked, she defends herself until Mark (Don Mitchell) races in and subdues the Bayside murderer - a milkman.
Everyone is content that the Bayside murder has been found - except Ironside - even though the deranged Bayside murderer confessed to her murder too. He noted that the milkman would not have left milk at Mrs. Garrison's door had he killed her the prior evening. He had not left milk behind after killing the other elderly ladies.
Ironside turns his attention back to Dupont. Ironside interviews Dupont's wife again. He raises suspicions. Asking her if he discarded a pair of shoes the morning after the murder. Ironside pushes and pushes until the wife, realizing for the first time that her husband may be the murder, confesses she was aiding Dupont with his alibi. Dupont bolts. The police, waiting outside, catch him.
Both cases solved.
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