A man checks into a hotel and then goes out onto the ledge. People then start gathering below to see what he will do. The police are called in. The man says he will only talk to Detective Lydia Mercer, a police negotiator. Mercer's last negotiation didn't end well. When she arrives the man refuses to come in. They eventually learn he's a cop who was convicted who stealing a valuable diamond, which he denied. It seems he just escaped from prison and he says he's trying to prove his innocence.