Ben Matlock accepts the pro bono case of Kevin Meredith, a young man accused of murdering his lover, whom Ben soon realises had a much more powerful lover.

When a down-on-his luck Santa Claus (Tom McCabe) is accused of killing the landlord who was about to evict not only him but everyone else in the apartment complex, the people in his building take up a collection and come to Matlock to ask him to defend him. They may not like Tom, but none of them believe him guilty of murder. Matlock ignores his own misgivings about a man he can't help but dislike and agrees to defend Tom.

Mary Ann Newton has written a book (Secret Confessions) that purports to be fiction, but upon a deeper look, it seems to be an expose on the citizens of a small town. When an attempt made on her life gets a local reverend instead, Matlock is called in to defend the suspected killer. As the case goes on, Matlock realises that Ms. Newton may not be the right target for the would-be killer.

Dr. David Westlake was a nasty piece of work who had a reputation for making trouble for his medical students. Any one of four men had a motive to kill Westlake, but suspicion lands on Dr. Jacobs, who was seen fleeing the scene of the crime.

Sam Gerard is a well-known mobster who is about to be exposed. His estranged son, Craig Gentry, is arrested for murder, but refuses to go to Sam for help, and instead, goes to Ben Matlock.

Craig continues to turn away from his father as Matlock keeps trying to investigate the case. When the Gentry family is almost caught in the middle of a mob war with the Hernandez family, Matlock realises that someone on the inside is pulling the strings.

When a scrooge of a store owner is accused of murdering his partner for being 'good' at Christmas, Matlock agrees to take the case, but Steven Abbott is furious when part of Matlock's fee involves Abbott having to be a 'good' guy.