Detective Jim Jovian has just completed the overnight shift for the West Covina Police Department on Christmas Eve when he receives an ominous call. A jogger has informed him that a man in a Santa Claus outfit is hanging from a tree on Pear Street. Upon investigation, Jovian notices that the number '1' is carved into the tree from which Santa is hanging. A series of gruesome murders occur over the next week and a half, each one bearing an ascending number. Los Angeles has a serial murderer and the police are at a loss as to his pattern or how to stop him.