Even though he barely makes enough money to cover his expenses and finds divorce cases (his bread and butter) unsavory, aging detective Ira Wells (
Art Carney) is determined to stay active and to retain some amount of self-respect. When his partner Harry Regan (
Howard Duff) is killed while on assignment, Ira agrees to take on his current case, although he can't see how it has anything to do with his friend's murder, which he is anxious to solve. In order to survive, by solving the case of his client's missing cat, and solving the murder of his friend, Ira winds up accepting a lot of help from his client Margo (
Lily Tomlin). By the end of the film, it looks like an offbeat romance, or perhaps a new business partnership, is blooming. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide