Pinocchio and his friends, a glow worm and a marionette, search for a magic music box, putting them in danger from the evil Scalawag and the Emperor of the Night.

Chinatown, San Francisco, 1928. Former private detective Dashiell Hammett, a compulsive drinker with tuberculosis who writes pulp fiction for a living, receives an unexpected visit from an old friend asking for help.