Post-World War Two society has beaten Marine veteran Harry Cain to a pulp; stripped him of any vestige of self-respect, left him without hope, and in his own words, made him into a scruffy bag of dreams. But this all changes when he encounters a suicidal street walker named Carmen, the perfect example of a Mexican Spitfire. Carmen makes Harry believe in himself again. He remains a schizoid, it’s true; he hallucinates and talks to characters that may or may not exist, but his wild imagination makes him the ideal partner to help her execute a bizarre crime that will leave them wealthy or dead; she doesn’t seem to care which.