Los Angeles, 1931. On the heels of an unsavory investigation involving a famous comedian, Perry Mason--a PI struggling to make ends meet--and his right-hand man Pete Strickland are hired by attorney E.B. Jonathan, Perry's mentor, to solve a perplexing case: the brutal kidnapping of one-year-old Charlie Dodson, whose parents were targeted for a $100,000 ransom.

Following one of her trademark barn-burning sermons, Evangelical preacher Sister Alice offers the Dodsons the church's full moral and financial support – much to her mother Birdy's dismay. During a routine domestic intervention, beat cop Paul Drake is rerouted to a gruesome crime scene, where he follows a confounding trail of evidence.

In order to gain an advantage over E.B. and team, wily district attorney Maynard Barnes goes public with a shocking new development. Mason and Strickland get unauthorized access to physical evidence with help from Virgil, Mason's connect at the city morgue. Later, Mason attempts to extract information from a withholding Drake, who's weary of Holcomb and Ennis' watchful eyes.

Mason and Strickland lean on Virgil, again, for extra-legal assistance. Following Sister Alice's recovery from a frightening episode, Birdy urges her daughter to renounce her claims about baby Charlie. E.B. faces the reality of his financial situation and takes his frustrations out on Della.

While Mason and Della run a solemn errand up north, Strickland tracks down the sergeant originally assigned to the Dodson case. Before returning to L.A., Mason drops in on his ex-wife Linda and son Teddy, hoping to make amends for his recent shortcomings. Della sets out to find Mrs. Dodson more capable legal representation.