Gambling Daughters

At an elite women's university, student Diana Cameron bemoans the fact that her father Walter is too busy to see her on weekends. One night, her roommates, Lillian Harding and Katherine Thompsen, follow their French professor, Bedoin, to the Angel's Roost roadhouse. The girls trail Bedoin into the casino, and when Bedoin sees them, he insists that they leave, although the manager, Chance Landon, takes an interest in the wealthy girls. The girls do not notice Walter, who is actually bankrupt and owes a heavy debt to Chance's mysterious boss. In order to repay his debt, Walter lures wealthy businessmen to the gambling tables. Lillian and Katherine soon become regulars at Angel's Roost, and are egged on by Chance and his assistant, Nick, who regularly extends them credit. Not long after, Katherine's family is robbed of some valuable jewels, and insurance investigator Jimmy Parker believes it was an inside job because the safe was not forced open. Chance then refuses to give Lillian a break when she is unable to pay her huge gambling debt, and urges her to steal her parents' jewels. Lillian is appalled by the suggestion, and confides her troubles to Diana. Although Diana cannot help her financially, Lillian asks her to go to New York with her as moral support, because she intends to ask her parents for help. Lillian, however, knows that her parents are out of town, and while she is at their house, Diana visits her father and learns that he is now poor, although he does not reveal the true nature of his debt. Diana and Lillian stop at Angel's Roost on their way home, and while Diana waits outside in the car, Lillian presents her family jewels to Chance. Chance's boss rejects most of the items and demands that he receive the rest of the money Lillian owes him in several days. When Chance threatens to blackmail Lillian's parents with love letters she wrote him, Lillian rushes into the boss's office, but Chance stops her before she can see the boss's face. Lillian sees only a hand picking idly at some flowers as he denies her request for more time. Lillian is unable to sleep that night and accidentally overdoses on sleeping pills. Jimmy, meanwhile, finds the circumstances of the robberies suspicious, as they both occurred at the homes of university students. Jimmy is hired to work undercover as a gym teacher at the school, and gets to know Diana through one of his classes. One day while she is visiting Lillian in the infirmary, he searches their room. Jimmy hides in the shower but is discovered when Diana and Katherine return. Katherine becomes hysterical when Jimmy questions her about the robberies, and he reassures her that he is with an insurance company, not the police. Because he is coming down with a cold, Jimmy agrees to give them twenty-four hours before he investigates further. Diana and Katherine then go to the casino and pretend that Lillian is waiting in the car with her money. Diana and Katherine kidnap Nick, unaware that Walter has seen them. When Walter confronts Chance, however, the thug disables him with a blow to the stomach. The students hold Nick hostage in the gym, but are too shy to search his pockets for the love letters. Diana calls on Jimmy to help and he quickly finds the letters, but Nick is shot to death through a window before reveals the identity of his boss. Chance, meanwhile, is instructed by his boss to frame Walter for Nick's murder by slipping the gun in his pocket and setting him free. Shortly afterward, the casino is raided and Walter, Bedoin and the guests are arrested. Diana is sure her father is innocent, and Jimmy believes Bedoin may have witnessed something significant. During class, Lillian notices Bedoin fingering a flower, and recognizes the movement as the same one she observed Chance's boss making. Lillian becomes hysterical and as a result of of her screams, Bedoin takes Diana hostage. As he is leading her through the hall, one of the girls tackles him with a judo move she learned in gym class, and Bedoin is captured and arrested.