By the time Linda Heller witnesses a murder in a boxcar rolling through Alabama, the runaway teen, known on the road as Sparkle, has long since given up her false dream of freedom and adventure on the rails. Now all she can think about is escaping from her fellow "train hoppers" with her life.The young drifter makes a run for it when the train stops in Mobile and is given refuge in the "Hobo Hilton" by homeless veteran Johnny Egan. Having been assured by Egan and his friends that she is safe and that the two thugs chasing her are the ones in trouble, Sparkle thinks she finally got a lucky break. But before the night is over she has to watch from behind a bush as the police raid the camp and haul Egan off on a murder charge. So much for lucky breaks.It's Johnny Egan's luck that Jesse Yates is worried about. Yates has been hired by the public defender assigned to Egan's case. He needs to find this girl known only as Sparkle, who, despite her dubious personal background, can give Egan an alibi.Yates is certain that his fellow warrior is innocent, and he's determined to prove it. He takes a giant step in the right direction when he manages to find Sparkle. Since she's being hunted by a killer and his accomplice, Yates arranges to have the girl taken in at World Headquarters (the Palm Court Motel), where the crew is likewise taken in by the young runaway, now officially identified as Linda Heller of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.It's a move that may prove costly to the Palm Court detectives when forces working to implicate Johnny Egan turn their sights on Sparkling Linda Heller, who turns out to be a much different teenage fugitive than anyone could reasonably have imagined.