Los Angeles, 1931. On the heels of an unsavoury investigation involving a famous comedian, struggling PI Perry Mason and his right-hand man Pete Strickland are hired by attorney E.B. Jonathan to solve the brutal kidnapping of one-year-old Charlie Dodson.
Evangelical preacher Sister Alice offers the Dodsons the church's full moral and financial support. Mason is left incensed by a jaw-dropping admission from Baggerly and, after pressing Emily on her husband's alibi, finds himself confronted by an outraged Della.
Wily D.A. Maynard Barnes goes public with a shocking new development. Mason and Strickland get unauthorised access to physical evidence with help from Virgil, Mason's connect at the city morgue. Later, Mason attempts to extract information from an unyielding Drake.
Mason and Strickland lean on Virgil, again, for extra-legal assistance. Following Sister Alice's recovery, Birdy urges her daughter to renounce her claims about baby Charlie. E.B. faces the reality of his financial situation and takes his frustrations out on Della.
While Mason and Della run a solemn errand up north, Strickland tracks down the sergeant originally assigned to the Dodson case. Disturbed by Emily's blind faith in Sister Alice and her new lawyer, Frank Dillon, Della sets out to find Emily more capable representation.
As Emily's trial begins, Mason attempts to recover from a shaky start. Della and Strickland investigate a potential connection between Detective Ennis and Charlie's kidnappers. Later, Mason considers betraying Drake's trust to give his client an edge in court.
Hoping to expose the hidden link between the Radiant Assembly's staggering debt and Charlie's ransom, Mason puts Herman Baggerly on the stand. Strickland loses track of a key witness, while Drake's detective work opens a new avenue in the case.
After the team receives some unvarnished critique from Hamilton Burger, Della presents an increasingly stubborn Mason with her case for putting Emily on the stand. As the dramatic trial winds to a close, Mason, Strickland, Della, and Drake attempt to tie up loose ends.