Seattle Police Department, and the head of the homicide investigation, Captain Edward Kosterman (Eddie Albert), believe the shootings are the work of street militants; Kosterman orders an immediate dragnet. Elsewhere, Detective Lieutenant Lon "McQ" McHugh (Wayne) escapes an attempt on his life by a professional hit man named Patty Samuels, whom McQ immediately guns down. McQ had been woken minutes before by a phone call to him on his boat, telling him of the shootings of his longtime partner and the two other police officers. Because he and Boyle had been investigating drug trafficking in the city, McQ is convinced from the start that the target of their investigation, local shipping magnate and suspected narcotics dealer Manny Santiago (Al Lettieri), is responsible for the shootings, a view hardened by the hitman’s attempt on him.