 From their suburban home, Doctor Gordon Mortley and his sister Nurse Edith run Shady Palms Clinic, a facility that takes in physically or mentally ill indigents sent to them by the county.In reality, the Mortleys are con artists who murder their patients (usually during "surgeries" performed on them by Gordon) and continue billing the state for their care afterward.The only permanent resident of the clinic is the alcoholic Louise Kagel, who Gordon supplies with liquor in exchange for sex.