This article: In November of 1948, Bob Corey is an American soldier badly wounded at the end of World War II, and undergoing a number of surgical operations on his spine at the Birmingham Veterans Hospital in Van Nuys, California. He is tended by a nurse, Julie Benson, and they have fallen in love. Corey's military pal, Steve Connolly, arrives in early November to discuss plans for the ranch in Scottsdale, Arizona, they plan to purchase and operate together once Corey is out of the hospital. The two men pool their G.I. benefits (totaling $40,000) to do so. Corey's final surgery is in mid-December, but Connolly does not appear at the hospital afterward to see his friend. By Christmas, Corey is still in recovery but Connolly still remains absent. One night, as Corey lies semi-conscious in bed after being administered a sleeping drug, a woman with a Swedish accent appears at his  bedside. She says Connolly has been in a horrible accident; his spine is shattered and he wants to die, but she has refused to help him commit suicide. The woman asks Corey what to do, and he advises her to do nothing to harm Steve, and just to wait. Corey slips into unconsciousness, and the woman disappears.
After New Year's Day, Corey is released from the hospital. He is immediately stopped by police detectives and then questioned by Captain Garcia of the Los Angeles Police, who tells him that Connolly is wanted for the murder of Solly Blayne, a local high-stakes gambler and racketeer murdered at his home in Los Feliz. Corey denies that Connolly would be mixed up in anything criminal. contains an answer for the question: What is his friend waiting for Connelly to do after his surgery?, what is it ?


appear at the hospital