Pat Crowley who has some history with Jim Rockford hires him because now there's someone out there trying to kill her. In fact as it turns out there are two somebodies trying to kill her.
All of which makes no never mind to Noah Beery, Jr. Rocky thinks that Crowley is the girl that got away and the thought of her coming back for any reason has him practically salivating at the prospect of her being his daughter-in-law at last.
But as we well know Rocky believes in the best in everybody. James Garner takes a more cynical view of the human race. That's stood him good stead before. Garner says that he had Crowley mutually called it off and that may have been one real good move.
In the intervening years Crowley got married, had a daughter who got married and built a successful interior decorating business. She is subtly manipulative, but when Garner gets the truth out of her as he puts it, her life could be the subject of a Harold Robbins novel.
Garner both solves the case and glad he dodged a bullet both literally and figuratively.