In a world where puppets coexist with people but are treated as inferior citizens, Phil Phillips became the first puppet to be accepted in the LAPD, but was fired after a while. Now being reprofiled as a private detective and having a human secretary, Bubbles, he is hired by a puppet client named Sandra to find out who is blackmailing him. Phil follows a runway that leads him to an adult shop that is patronized by a puppet.
While he’s back and checking some documents, an assailant buzzes and kills everyone present there, including Mr. Bumblypants, a member of the famous puppet sitcom, The Happytime Gang. LAPD arrives on the spot and Phil meets his ex-partner, Detective Connie Edwards. Twelve years ago, Edwards was threatened with a puppet pistol, and when Phil tried to shoot him, he accidentally shot another innocent puppet, killing her with her little girl.
Edwards testified against Phil, and since then, a law has been passed which forbade puppets to be cops. Nowadays, Edwards thinks this case was just a burglary that went badly, but Phil is convinced he was a well-thought assassin. That night, Phil’s brother, Larry, and he was a member of the Happytime Gang, is devoured by some dogs that were deliberately allowed to enter his home. With heartbreak, Phil joins forces with Edwards to find the killer.