A serial killer is targeting New York's lonely single women who respond to a Lonely Hearts newspaper ad. His calling card is an orchid he pins to the body. Meanwhile, McCall is writing an article about Robert E Lee for a military magazine and trying to help a young actress from being exploited by a pimp.

A womanizer is grabbed by some people who demand that he give them something that one of the women he's been with gave him. He has no idea what they're talking about so he turns to McCall for help. After going through all the women he knows they hit a wall. That is until he remembers one other woman whom he met briefly.