After observing a police lineup, Dr. Andrew Collins, a police psychiatrist, focuses on a young man whom he believes he can help overcome the deep hurt that causes him to act as a criminal. When a colleague questions his ability to redeem criminals, Collins tells him the story of how he came to work for the police: Several years earlier, Collins had been a practicing psychiatrist and college professor. One weekend, he, his wife Ruth, and his son Bobby leave for their cabin in the country. That same day, murderer Al Walker escapes from jail, holding the warden hostage. After killing the warden, Walker, his girl Betty, and two henchmen decide to use the Collins house as their hiding place, believing that the police will be less likely to look for them there than at a neighboring empty cabin. The Collinses are entertaining Frank and Laura Stevens and Laura's friend, Owen Talbot. The brutal, contemptuous Walker ties the servants up in the basement and sends everyone except Collins upstairs to wait. Collins watches Walker closely, which makes the criminal nervous, and he then explains that his profession involves careful observation. After a few hours, Collins' fellow professor, Fred Linder, stops by to deliver a hunting rifle and notices Walker's shoes behind a curtain. Linder attempts to shoot Walker, but Walker stops him, and in the process, the gun goes off, wounding Linder. Despite himself, Walker is drawn to Collins' books on psychology, so Collins explains the conscious and subconscious mind. When Walker falls asleep, Collins discusses him with Betty, who tells the psychiatrist that Walker continually dreams that he is caught in a rainstorm and cannot get away. He stands under an umbrella with a hole in it and tries to keep the rain out with his hand, but his hand becomes paralyzed. When he tries to leave the umbrella, he is stopped by bars that suddenly surround him. After Walker awakens, Collins talks with him about his dream and offers to help him get rid of it forever. He encourages Walker to examine his childhood for clues to the meaning of the dream, and eventually Walker realizes that the bars represent policemen's legs; the umbrella, a table; and the rain, blood. Walker then recalls that one night, when he was angry at his brutal father, he reported him to the police and led them to the bar where his father was hiding. In the ensuing shootout, his father died on the table under which Walker had taken refuge, and blood leaked through a crack in the table. Walker's hand became paralyzed when he tried to stop the blood and he was prevented from leaving by the police who were surrounding the table. While Walter is relating his story, the servants loosen their bonds and bring the police. Walker plans to shoot his way out even though Collins tells him that his new self-knowledge will make it impossible for him to kill again. Walker realizes Collins is right when his paralyzed hand suddenly relaxes. Having told his story, Collins asks that the young man in the lineup be allowed to get the help that he needs, and his colleague agrees.
