Mimi Griffin fulfills a lifelong dream by opening a spectacular restaurant on the luxurious Montecito coast. She stages a dinner where the winner is the head chef. Darkly handsome Emil Chandon is the winner and while drinking a sample of the rare brandy he chokes and dies in agony. Shaken, Mimi turns to Sergeant Cruz who determines that she was intended target. Mimi eludes death at the Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens and is desperate to find the killer.