A Dangerous Affair

In the quiet town of Havenhurst, Long Island, reporter Wally Cook and police lieutenant McHenry long for some excitement. The pals are annoyed when beautiful Marjory Randolph laughs during a lecture McHenry gives to the local women's club about the importance of the police. Wally and McHenry try to convince Marjory that the town is filled with dangerous criminals, but the laughing Marjory ignores their boasts. To teach Marjory a lesson, Wally sneaks into her bedroom that night and steals her necklace. Wally awakens the household as he leaves and returns with McHenry when Marjory calls the police. Marjory's aunt Letty, her cousin Harvey and his wife Florence are upset, and Wally does not help matters by sensationalizing the story in his newspaper. The nervous Letty asks McHenry for his protection during the reading of her late brother Emmanuel's will, which is to take place at his old mansion the next night. McHenry agrees, then leaves with Wally, who gives him the necklace when they reach the station. McHenry is furious, but Wally points out that he will be a hero when he returns the necklace after concocting a story about its recovery. McHenry locks the necklace in his desk drawer and, the next night, he and Wally go to the Randolph mansion. They are introduced to Emmanuel's lawyer, Tupper, and Letty's brothers, Tom and Lionel, who have been bitter enemies for years. The elder Randolphs are disappointed to learn that Emmanuel has left them nothing, while Marjory is distraught to hear that he has left his fortune to her, but that the instructions for obtaining it are hidden in her missing necklace. The family is frantic until McHenry reveals that the item is at the station. When they arrive there, however, they discover that the necklace has been stolen again. The next evening, McHenry and Wally go back to the mansion to investigate further and find Tupper's corpse. None of the Randolphs can supply an adequate alibi for their whereabouts during the time of the murder, and Harvey, who is an amateur detective, insists on fingerprinting everyone involved, which leads to the arrest of Wally, whose prints are on Marjory's bedroom window sill. Wally is furious at McHenry for arresting him, but the lieutenant explains that he has ordered the mansion to be sealed the next day, which means that the killer must look for the hidden money that night. Wally and McHenry return to the mansion, where they find that Plunkett, the jeweler who designed Marjory's necklace for Emmanuel, has been murdered. Marjory, Letty and Lionel appear, and the group finds a secret passage, in which are hidden Tom and his wife Peggy. Peggy admits that she and Tom were in league with Plunkett, who stole the necklace, killed Tupper when he became suspicious, and was in turn killed by Peggy and Tom when he threatened to doublecross them. Marjory then rewards Wally for his detective work with a big kiss, and Wally assures McHenry that the publicity will get him promoted to captain.