Thinking an old house has been abandoned, Fingers, a teenage petty thief, breaks in one night and gets caught by the owner, Lloyd.  Lloyd offers Fingers a deal — work for him for free or get turned over to the police and be sent to a youth home.

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Fingers reluctantly starts working for Lloyd and discovers that the middle-aged man is a painter who has never been able to make it big. Fingers also discovers a talent for painting, and starts "fixing" Lloyd's pieces. Lloyd is furious, but when he makes a large sale with several of the pieces, he realizes that Fingers has incredible talent.

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Lloyd makes Fingers his "junior partner" and they take the art world by storm. But when Fingers creates a piece all by himself that is valued way above Lloyd's most expensive artwork, Lloyd's jealousy spurs him to discredit the youngster, and things become deadly as admiration turns to resentment...