Convicted

Hard-boiled nightclub dancer Jerry Wheeler has only one soft spot, and that is for her younger brother Chick, whom she has reared since she was sixteen. When Chick's former girl friend, Mary Allen, informs Jerry that Chick is about to leave town with his new girl friend, the scandalous Ruby Rose, Jerry goes to Ruby's apartment and warns her to keep away from Chick. Ruby, who knows that Chick is an easy mark, refuses to cancel her plans and orders Jerry to leave. Jerry then tries to reason with Chick, but he also refuses to listen. He quarrels with Jerry and leaves, but when he arrives at Ruby's apartment, he finds Ruby lying on the floor. Ruby's maid, Aggie LeRoy, enters the room and sees Chick strangling Ruby, and doesn't realize that he is actually trying to revive her. His efforts are in vain, however, for Ruby is already dead, and he is arrested for her murder. Police detectives Burns and "Cobble-Puss" Coley investigate and question Jerry, who adamantly states that Chick is not a killer. During Chick's trial, the young man is enraged by the leading questions that the district attorney asks Jerry, and to get her off the stand, Chick shouts out that he is guilty. Chick is then convicted and sentenced to be executed, and Jerry castigates Burns for railroading her brother. Jerry's determination to clear her brother piques Burns's curiosity, and he follows her when she goes to question Aggie. Before Jerry can talk to her, however, Aggie is deliberately run over by a speeding car, and Burns is forced to admit that it appears someone "big" is trying to effect a cover-up. Soon after, Jerry and Mary attend an auction of Ruby's belongings, and when Jerry sees the men who killed Aggie bid on a small box, she outbids them. Inside the box, the women find a letter to Ruby from Milton Militis, a notorious nightclub owner for whom Ruby worked as a dancer. In the letter Militis warns Ruby that she cannot keep the jewelry he gave her if she breaks off their relationship. Suspecting that Militis killed Ruby, Jerry goes to work at his club in order to investigate him, and he quickly becomes enamoured of her. Jerry encourages Militis' attentions and hopes to find in his possession the expensive bracelet that Ruby was wearing the last time Jerry saw her. The bracelet was not found on Ruby's corpse, and Jerry's suspicions are proven correct when Militis gives the bracelet to her. Militis' henchmen, Pal and Rocco, recognize her as Chick's sister, however, and Militis decides to kill her. Kane, an undercover policeman, notifies Burns, and Burns and the police arrive just as Militis is about to strangle Jerry. After the hoodlums are taken away, Burns tells Jerry that Chick will be free soon, and she gratefully embraces him.