Cal Bradley runs a highly-respected psychiatric clinic in New England. He was brought up in the town and hs followed his father's footsteps in being a philanthropic citizen. He and his wife, Marie, are as much in love as they were when they first married, and share a contented life with their three children. He is living the American dream. Then he agrees to give free treatment to a badly disturbed young man, Peter Blue, who he believes to be of no threat to anyone but himself. Peter disappears one night, but Cal finds him in the mountains above the clinic and doesn't have to institute a search for him. A few hours later the body of a stranger is discovered close to where he found Peter, and he is unable to prevent him being taken into custody. He is sure Peter is not a killer, and he knows confinement will push the young man into taking his life. As he sets out to prove his innocence and get him released, he discovers the murdered man is not such a stranger, but to expose the identity of the real killer will destroy him.