In Rawhide Coffin, Marilyn Millington finds herself in a dire financial situation, having left her job in Los Angeles to pursue a risky blackmail scheme against her former boss. Now, alone in Honolulu with just nineteen dollars to her name, she contemplates her next move while sitting at the kow-ow-ee bar. Her fortunes take a sudden turn when a nervous woman, later revealed to be Leona Chadwick, thrusts a purse into Marilyn's hands, pleading for her to keep it hidden. Inside, Marilyn discovers a significant sum of cash and documents that link Leona to an inheritance from her deceased uncle.