In the Paddington area of west London in July 1949, PC George Dixon, a long-serving traditional policeman who is due to retire shortly, supervises new recruit Andy Mitchell, introducing him to the night beat. Dixon is unprepared when he is called to the scene of a robbery at a local cinema, where he comes face-to-face with Tom Riley, a desperate youth armed with a revolver. Dixon tries to convince Riley to surrender the weapon, but Riley panics and fires. Dixon dies in hospital some hours later.
On his beat, Mitchell finds a little girl playing with the discarded revolver. The child is eventually persuaded to lead police to the spot where she had found it. Police painstakingly drag a canal and find a raincoat that is traced to Diana Lewis's father, who remembers lending it to Riley.
In his arrogance, Riley goes to police headquarters to provide a false alibi for himself. All this accomplishes is to convince the police to place him under 24-hour watch. Riley is caught with the help of professional criminals and dog-track bookmakers, who identify him as he tries to hide in the crowd at White City greyhound track in West London. Credit for arresting Riley falls to young Mitchell.
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