Art Carney stars as aging gumshoe Ira Wells in Robert Benton's affectionately offbeat homage to the detective genre. With a bad leg, a hearing aid, and a bleeding ulcer, the sixtysomething private investigator, who lives in a seedy L.A. boardinghouse, is well past his physical prime but still manages to make ends meet at his trade. When Margo (Lily Tomlin), a ditsy 1960s refugee in her thirties, tries to hire him to find her missing cat, Ira's enthusiasm is limited. But after agreeing to help her, he realizes that Ron Birdwell (Eugene Roche), the fence who stole her cat, may also be involved in the death of his partner, Harry (Howard Duff). As Ira continues his investigation into his partner's death, Margo proves to be sharper than her appearance suggests, and the two begin an uneasy alliance.