Yancy and Pahoo are walking down the street and run into Benjamin Quade and his companion, Patricia Cole. Patricia says that she's heard all about Yancy and Pahoo, and Yancy notes that Patricia won $100,000 in the lottery the previous week. Quade and Priscilla leave for the opera, and a man, Dink Saxon, walks up to their carriage and shoots Priscilla. Yancy and Pahoo give chase, and Dink returns fire. Taking cover, Yancy doubles back and takes Dink out with a few punches.
A doctor soon checks on Priscilla, and warns Yancy that she has three slugs in her and the odds aren't good. Quade figures that the bullets were meant for him, and says that when people don't win the lottery, they take it out on him since he helps run the lottery. Yancy figures that Dink was shooting at Priscilla. Captain Amos Fry with the Secret Service comes in and asks Quade to describe everything that happened. Quade repeats his story that Dink shot at him and hit Priscilla, and insists that Priscilla doesn't have any enemies. Priscilla dies and Fry tells Quade that he'll have to detain him so that he can identify Dink.
Once Fry and Quade leave, Yancy checks Priscilla's purse and finds her address. A woman, Patricia, arrives at the door and says that she was looking for her sister Priscilla. Yancy breaks the news that Priscilla is dead, and Patricia wonders what she's done to Priscilla. She leaves, crying.
At the Calaboose, Quade says that he's never seen Dink before. Dink refuses to identify himself, and says that he won't be around for a hanging. John is with Fry and Quade, and tells the jailer to make sure that Dink is secure. Yancy and Pahoo arrive, and Yancy offers Pahoo services to get Dink's name. Dink recognizes Yancy and says that he's going to kill him for interfering. When Dink says that he'll escape, Yancy says that he won't live and has the jailer describe the last killer that the people lynched. He suggests that they make an exception and not protect Dink, and Dinks tarts to look nervous.
Later, Yancy meets with John. John explains that the legislature legislated the lottery two months ago. Quade and his syndicate were given a charter to operate in New Orleans as long as they donated $40,000 to the charity hospital out of each drawing. The syndicate has been careful to do it, but makes sure that the public only wins the small prizes while the syndicate wins the big prizes. Quade claims the syndicate only sells half of the tickets but they all go into the pot. Jack told the syndicate to change their methods or he'd have the War Department kick them out. Yancy figures that the syndicate paid Patricia to collect a large prize, hold the winnings, and then paid her fee. Afterward, they killed her to keep her from talking. Yancy tells Jack that he'll prove it and says that he's going to put on a show.
Yancy goes to the Cole home and barges in. Patricia orders him to get out, and Yancy points out that she's acting oddly given her sister died. He assures her that he's just trying to help, and Patricia says that her last name is Lee. Priscilla's last name was from her husband, who is dead. Pahoo checks the house and finds Patricia's bag, and Patricia says that she knows too much and they'll kill her if she talks. Yancy tells her that she's not leaving town and tells Pahoo to keep her there.
As Yancy walks down the street, Jody approaches him and says that Francine wants Yancy to come to the gambling club. The pickpocket warns that there's plenty wrong, and Yancy insists on going with him. At the club, Francine shows Yancy a baby boy was left at the doorstep for him. There's a note saying that the boy's name is Paul and asks Yancy to take care of him. The girls take care of Paul, and Francine assumes that the woman who left the baby is one of Yancy's romances. When Goldy tosses the hard pillow in the basket onto the floor, thousands of dollars fall out. Yancy figures that Dink knows what's going on and says that there's only one way to make him talk.
Jody comes in via the window, and Yancy tells him that there's lynching. Francine points out that they've never had a lynching in New Orleans, and Yancy tells Jody to round up a crowd and bring torches. He explains that they're going to stage a fake lynching to sweat the truth out of Dink. Francine agrees to recruit her customers, and Yancy quickly leaves.
Yancy returns to Patricia's home, and finds Quade there. Patricia explains that Quade forced his way in with a gun and threatened her, and Pahoo threatened Quade with a knife. Quade demands the money, and Yancy says that he knows Patricia left Priscilla's baby for him. Patricia admits that she was going to leave town and couldn't take Paul with her, and explains that she was working for Quade. When the administrator pressed him, Quade asked her to find someone she could trust to collect the money. The winner would return the money once the publicity died down. Quade insists that Patricia is lying, but Priscilla tells Yancy that Quade was going to give Priscilla $500 for the job. Yancy tells Quade that he has the money and is taking Quade to jail, and leave Pahoo there to watch Patricia.
A mob soon gathers and marches on the Calaboose. Yancy puts Quade in a cell and makes sure that he can see the mob. Meanwhile, the mob threatens Dink and Quade, but Yancy says that he can't interfere and walks out with the jailer. Once they're out of sight, the two men fire above the mob. Yancy puts a revolver on the table and goes back to the cell. Dink begs Yancy to give him a chance, and takes him out front. The jailer plays along, begging Yancy to take Dink somewhere else to hang. Dink sees the gun, and Yancy tells Dink that he's free. Dink grabs the gun and shoots Yancy and the jailer before running out. Once he's gone, Yancy tells the overacting jailer that he's fine because of the blanks, and has him disperse the mob.
Dink goes to Patricia's house and tells her that he got loose. When he asks where the money is, Patricia asks him why he was in jail. Dink claims that they accused him of killing Priscilla but it was actually Quade. Patricia doesn't believe him, and reminds him that he promised that Priscilla wouldn't be hurt. Dink insists that he had to kill Priscilla, and now the two of them can leave with $100,000. Once he goes to get his things, Patricia takes out a revolver and hides it behind her back. When Dink comes back, Patricia says that she wanted the money but not at the cost of her sister's life. Dink shoots Patricia with the stolen gun, and Yancy comes in and says that the blanks are harmless. As Dink tries to run, Patricia shoots him in the back. Yancy takes her gun and Patricia breaks into tears.
Later at the club, Quade comes in and demands to see Yancy. He finds Yancy and Francine in the back with the baby, and explains that he got out on a writ of habeas corpus. Quade demands the money, but Yancy tells him that the money belongs to Priscilla's only son. John and Fry come in with a warrant for Quade's arrest on charges of grand theft. The syndicate's license was revoked ten days ago. Fry takes Quade away, and they figure that Paul will be fine as the richest baby in New Orleans.
Written by Gadfly on May 2, 2017