Velda Bellinghausen is a down-on-her-luck private eye barely scraping by in her run-down apartment building. When her elderly neighbor, an antiquarian book dealer named Mr. Arkady, falls ill, Velda agrees to help with his errands in exchange for some much-needed cash. As she delivers rare books to Arkady's eccentric clients, Velda begins to suspect that someone may be deliberately trying to harm the old man in order to get their hands on one of his valuable tomes.

With the arrival of a shady new tenant in the building, the mystery deepens. Velda must use her street smarts and detective skills to unravel the puzzle before it's too late.