Private Dance: Stella Xanathakeos, a stripper at the Peacock Lounge, is approached by an attractive but cold man she nicknames Mr. Clean. He hires her for a private performance in a hotel room the following evening. Stella recognizes her audience as local bigwig and mayoral candidate Anthony Pinelli. She is drawn to the charismatic Pinelli and gives the performance of her career. Just as she and her client are moving toward intimacy, Mr. Clean bursts into the room and shoots Pinelli. However, he gets shot in return. Stella slinks away, concerned about being discovered.
Black Widow: In the cold light of day, Stella realizes that she has to talk to the police. She consults an old school friend, Detective Jimmy Ostrowski. Ostrowski obviously still carries a torch for her. He promises to try and keep her role in the crime quiet. Meanwhile, back home, nursing the sprained ankle she received in the hotel room fracas, Stella gets a visit from Francesca Pinelli, widow of the slain man. Somehow Francesca knows all about Stella’s presence at the scene of the crime. She also seems to know how to excite poor Stella, who is in an uncharacteristically vulnerable state.
Intruder: Stella works on her theories of what happened in the hotel room and why. She realizes that she needs more information. Francesca conveniently contacts her and invites her to the Pinelli house the next day, ostensibly to offer her a job. Meanwhile, Jimmy asks Stella to dinner, and she accepts. She allows herself to give in to her attraction for the detective. When she gets home, however, she discovers that someone has burgled her house, obviously looking for something. Stella suddenly understands that she can not trust anyone, not even her old school chum and new lover Jimmy.
Afternoon Tea: Following up on the previous day’s invitation, Stella visits Francesca’s upmarket home. The widow tells Stella that she plans to take over her husband’s campaign and run for mayor in his stead. She asks Stella to serve as her press secretary. Stella is incredulous, but Francesca flatters her into considering the position. Meanwhile, in response to Stella’s queries, Francesca claims that she found out about Stella’s presence at the murder from the hotel clerk. Stella is suspicious, but Francesca overwhelms her once again by playing on her sensual nature.
Ashes to Ashes: Heavily disguised, Stella attends Tony Pinelli’s funeral. She notices that Francesca is without tears. Both Jimmy and his partner Bill, whom she had met previously at the precinct house, are in attendance, but neither recognizes her. Other mourners include Graham White, Pinelli’s opponent in the mayoral race, and a mysterious black-coated figure with dark glasses who is whispered to be the mob boss, Don Julio. Stella returns home to find a package on her doorstep. It contains a mangled Barbie doll and threatening note.
Showtime: The threat is not lost on Stella, but she stubbornly persists in her search for the truth. She agrees to work for Francesca Pinelli’s campaign, and the two appear together in front of the press for the first time. The local press attempts to embarrass and discredit Stella, but she has sufficient poise and attitude to get the better of them. Back at the Pinelli residence, Francesca once again makes advances on Stella, but this time the stripper rebuffs her with the excuse that individuals who work together should not be lovers. While ostensibly reviewing Tony’s campaign documents in preparation for further media work, Stella comes upon his appointment book. It’s generally in a cryptic shorthand, but there’s an entry for the day of the murders: “J.O. 6:30”. She realizes that this could stand for Julio Orestino, the shadowy syndicate leader—or James Ostrowski.
Dirty Tricks: The press might try to ridicule Stella, but it appears that the voters love her. After less than a week working for Francesca’s campaign, polls show the widow pulling ahead of her opponent, Graham White. White sets up an appointment with Stella and tries to pump her for information, then offers her double the salary to come work for him. Stella refuses. As she’s leaving White’s mansion, Stella encounters White’s daughter Leticia, who rails against her father and expresses deep regret about Tony’s death. Stella is drawn to the lonely, angry young woman, and the feelings appear to be mutual. Letty warns Stella to be careful of her father. That evening, as Stella is on her way to the neighborhood laundromat, she is attacked by two masked men. She successfully fights them off, only to find another threatening note tucked under her door when she returns home. Despite her suspicions about Ostrowski, she calls him and arranges for police protection.
Surveillance: An officer is assigned to watch Stella’s house around the clock. She is not surprised to find see Jimmy’s partner Bill huddled in the shadows across the street. Though she feels safer, she hates being a prisoner. During the day, she is busy with campaign business, keeping her eye on Francesca while looking for clues. But the evenings are long and lonely. Finally she breaks down and invites Jimmy to her house. As they make love, her suspicions slip away, but their tryst is interrupted by the sound of breaking glass. Someone has thrown a brick through her front window. Wrapped around the brick is a cocktail napkin with the logo of the hotel where Pinelli died.
Caught in the Act: Stella arrives early at Francesca’s the next morning. She’s considering resigning. The door to Francesca’s office is shut; she hears voices inside. When it opens, who should emerge but Graham White. He’s cordial but his eyes are daggers of ice. Francesca appears uncharacteristically upset. Stella decides to stick it out a while longer. That evening she goes back to the Peacock to talk to her boss and fellow dancers. It turns out that all sorts of people have been by the club, asking about her. Most, apparently, were reporters from the local rags, looking for a juicy story on Ms. Pinelli’s press secretary. But Stella also recognizes the description of White as one of the individuals making inquiries. Being among her old friends makes Stella yearn for the simpler days when she was merely a stripper. They prevail upon her to get up on the stage and dance. As she gazes out into the audience, she recognizes Bill the detective. He slips away before she can speak to him. She can’t help wondering whether this is part of the normal surveillance procedure.
Temptations: The next morning, the city papers both run front-page pictures of Stella on stage. Stella receives an angry call from Francesca, who threatens to fire her. She mollifies the widow, wanting at least one chance to search Francesca’s office for clues. She has an opportunity that afternoon, when Francesca is called to the phone. She finds a credit card bill with several charges to a mountain inn about an hour from the city, but no charges from the fatal hotel. She also finds, in the wastebasket, the torn business card of a lawyer specializing in “domestic law”. She is interrupted by Francesca’s return. Once again the widow attempts to seduce her, and wanting to dispell the other woman’s suspicions, Stella acquieces. Later, as she is waiting for the bus back to her neighborhood, a long black car pulls alongside her and she is beckoned inside to confront a polite but menacing Julio Orestino. He offers her several thousand dollars and suggests that she take her long-desired vacation to Greece, for her own safety. Stella refuses, more determined than ever to get to the bottom of the affair.
Runaway: Stella returns home to find that her front door lock has been picked. Entering cautiously, she discovers Letty White sitting in her kitchen with a backpack, smoking a cigarette. Letty appears tough but before long she dissolves into tears and confides in Stella. She loved Tony Pinelli, it appears, in invisible silence. She wants to bring to justice whoever was responsible for his death. Reaching into her pack, she hands Stella a roll of film. She tells Stella that she followed Tony that night, that she saw Stella enter the hotel room, and Andy Henderson—Mr.Clean—enter the adjoining room. After she heard the shots, she followed through the unlocked door and grabbed the film out of the camera. She hadn’t developed it; she didn’t dare. But she wants Stella to have it. Stella is touched, physically and emotionally, by the young woman’s intensity and courage.
Exposed: Stella need to find out what is on the film, but she can’t have it developed commercially; the risk is too great. Perplexed, she finally buys a photography book, then goes over and borrows the darkroom at the YMCA to develop it herself. She doesn’t look at the photos there, merely slips them into her bag and returns home. In the privacy of her den, she discovers that the pictures fall into two categories. Most of the roll shows Tony and Don Julio, talking and gesturing. There are liquor glasses on the table, and an attache case full of cash. The last few photos, though, show a distraught-looking Mr. Clean, clutching at Tony’s body, kneeling in front of his broad-shouldered, dark-haired figure, trying to unzip Tony’s fly.
Conflagration: As Stella struggles to comprehend the meaning of the photos, she hears a sound behind her. Something heavy slams into her skull and she loses conciousness. She awakens in her own basement, gagged and bound with duct tape to a rickety chair. Detective Bill and Francesca Pinelli are leaning over her father’s workbench, examining the photos by the light of a kerosene lamp. Francesca is bitter and angry at the content of the photos. She reveals that she and Andy were lovers; she had plotted with Mr. Clean to get photos of Tony and Stella, so that she would have grounds for divorce. It’s clear from the photos, though, that Andy wanted Tony at least as much as he wanted her. She’s puzzled by the earlier photos, though. The basement door creaks and Graham White clumps down the stairs. He explains that Tony wanted to break off his ties with the mob. White prevailed on Mr. Clean to get photographs of Tony’s final meeting with the Don, which could be used to discredit him in the election. At White’s instruction, Bill grabs Francesca and secures her to another chair. Then White smashes the kerosene lantern into a pile of rags in the corner of the basement, and he and Bill leave the premises as the flames climb.
Retribution: Stella struggles to free herself and manages to separate the legs of the old chair from the seat. This allows her to make her way over to workbench and use the table saw blade to cut through the bonds on her hands. She frees Francesca as well, but the cellar stairs have collapsed in a wall of fire. The basement window is shattered from the outside. Leticia helps them to escape through the narrow opening. Stella watches, helpless, as her home collapses into ash and rubble. As the firefighters arrive, Stella sees the blue lights of a police car down at the end of the block. Leticia smiles grimly, confiding that she cut the brake lines on her father’s car. She kisses Stella and disappears into the shadows.
Encore: Stella tries to put it all behind her. With the money from her fire insurance, she could buy another house, but for the moment, she doesn’t have the heart. She goes back to the Peacock. Francesca becomes mayor of the city, after the tragic accident that killed her opponent. One night the mayor comes into the club, and tries unsuccessfully to convince Stella to come back to work for her. Jimmy calls Stella repeatedly, but she won’t see him, though she knows now that he’s innocent. She has lost too much. Then one night she looks up and sees him in the audience. The old energy surges through her, and she dances only for him—and for the fun of it.