Shadow of Suspicion

After a valuable emerald bracelet is stolen from the Cartell jewelry store in Chicago, a reporter visits Frank Randall, the store manager, to inquire what measures he has taken to secure the priceless Stoneham necklace that is due to arrive shortly. Soon after, Randall is summoned to approve a check written by a customer named Adams, who has a newly opened checking account. Under Randall's questioning, Adams admits that he was testing the store's security and that he is really Everett G. Northrup, an assistant manager sent from the New York store to insure the safety of the Stoneham necklace. After Northrup leaves the building, Randall, suspicious of his story, phones the New York store and asks to speak to Northrup. When the switchboard operator connects him to Northrup, Randall informs him that an impostor is using his name, and Northrup instructs him to continue the masquerade while he flies out to Chicago on the next plane. Upon arriving, Northrup introduces himself to the impostor as Jimmy Dale, his new secretary. After Randall leaves them alone in Northrup's office, the two greet each other. In reality, the man posing as Northrup is Jimmy Dale and Northrup is his partner in a private investigation firm that has been engaged to guard the necklace. When the express company delivers the necklace, Northrup films Randall accepting the jewels and locking them in his safe. That night, as Northrup and Jimmy review the film in their office, Randall calls his secretary, Claire Winter, into his office and asks her to leave the next day for a vacation in New York. After the surprised Claire reluctantly consents, Randall asks her to deliver his daughter's bronzed baby booties to his mother who resides in New York. Agreeing to pick up the booties the next morning, Claire goes home and Randall removes the necklace from his safe and stuffs it in the booties, placing a counterfeit in the safe. Overhearing the entire proceeding, Jimmy and Northrup wait until Randall leaves and then steal into his office and extract the necklace from the bronzed shoes. Determined to apprehend Randall's partner in New York, Jimmy decides to follow Claire on her journey. Randall, meanwhile, calls "Mother," his fence in New York, to notify her that Claire will be delivering the necklace and that he has assigned Bill and Red, their accomplices, to shadow her. After Claire leaves for New York the next morning, a wealthy couple comes to buy the necklace. When the couple's jeweler pronounces the jewels paste, Randall summons police lieutenant Dolan and tries to cast suspicion on Northrup and Jimmy. Northrup then informs Randall that they have both been summoned to the Cartell office in New York, and Dolan, who is secretly working with the investigators, allows them to leave town. When the train stops at a station outside New York, Claire buys a newspaper and sees the headline about the theft of the necklace. Thinking that Jimmy has stolen the jewels, she urges him to return them just as Red and Bill, posing as police officers, pull him off the train and take him to a nearby house. Upon arriving in New York, meanwhile, Claire delivers the package to "Mother." Jimmy, meanwhile, overpowers his captors and escapes. When Mother discovers that the necklace is missing, she begins to interrogate Claire. While speeding to Mother's house in a taxi, Jimmy instructs the driver to notify the police of the address. Jimmy then enters the house, and as he stalls for time, Bill and Red arrive. As Mother threatens Jimmy and Claire, a police siren is heard approaching, and Jimmy throws a vase through the window to alert the officers. The police then burst into the apartment and take mother and her gang into custody. When Randall arrives at the Cartell office with Northrup, he finds Mother and the rest of the gang waiting for him, all under arrest.