I Cover Big Town

When Illustrated Press reporter Jimmy O'Brien arrives at the scene of a police raid, his interference causes the police to lose their criminal. The next day, editor Steve Wilson gives in to reporter Lorelei Kilbourne's demands that she be put on the police beat, even though he thinks women should not cover the harder stories. At the city hall press room, Lorelei and Steve catch one of their reporters in a mock interrogation, impersonating police chief Tom Blake. Although Steve resents Tom for not informing the press about his cases, Tom demotes his reporter for insolence and replaces him with Lorelei. Lorelei puts her male competitors to shame by getting the scoop on all the latest stories, but when John Moulton, the murderer who slipped through Tom's grasp, remains at large, Commissioner Lawson threatens to dismiss Tom. On a hunch, Lorelei tells Steve that she thinks a man arrested for disturbing the peace is actually Moulton in disguise. Unaware that her call to Steve is being overheard by Pete Ryan, a reporter for a rival newspaper, Lorelei tells Tom that she will turn Moulton over to him at an appointed hour. However, her plan is foiled when Pete's newspaper reports that the FBI has arrested Moulton. Tom believes that Lorelei and Steve tricked him and then tipped off the FBI. Angry over Tom's accusations, Steve prints a story about how Tom bungled Moulton's initial arrest attempt. Lorelei and Steve then follow the police as they respond to a call about a noisy dog. They find the dog locked inside a garage, barking at a trunk that contains the dead body of B. C. Squires. When a neighbor tells the police that the homeowners are Dora and Harry Hilton, Lorelei calls Harry's business partner, architect Norden Royal, who informs her that the Hiltons have just left for the airport. The Hiltons are taken into custody at the airport and brought to view the body. Although Hilton claims he has never seen the man or the trunk, Dora faints when she sees Squires. After some research, Lorelei learns that eight years earlier, Squires was married to Dora, who reportedly commited suicide. Steve postulates that as no body was ever found, Dora actually left Squires, and then Squires tracked her down and tried to blackmail Hilton. Later, Lorelei's bail bondsman friend, Louis Sneed, gets her an interview with Dora at the prison, where she and Harry are being held for Squires's murder. Dora admits that she faked her suicide because Squires threatened to kill her when she found out their marriage was not legal. Steve, meanwhile, learns from Royal that Hilton had doctored their books and was embezzling from the company. When Pete listens in on the conversation, he and his co-worker Harvey go to see Royal with an auditor. The auditor examines Royal's books and determines that the company is $100,000 overdrawn, but Royal refuses to believe his friend is guilty. Steve then earns Tom's anger again when he publishes a story about Hilton's embezzlement before the police have even charged him with the crime. Lorelei interviews Hilton in prison, but his cellmate, Moulton, takes her hostage, knocks out a guard, and he and Hilton escape. The fugitives leave Lorelei behind and go to Royal's office, but while Moulton takes a nap, Hilton calls Louis, who tips off Lorelei. Lorelei calls Steve with information on the fugitives' surrender, but she gives false information because she knows that Pete is secretly listening to her conversation. Lorelei, Tom and the newspaper's auditor then go to Royal's office and look at the books again. After Lorelei accuses Hilton of embezzlement, Louis notes that Royal regularly lost his money gambling. Royal finally confesses that Squires came to him about blackmailing Hilton, but Royal claims he ejected Squires from his office. Lorelei then speculates that he later made a deal with Squires to be a go-between, and that he framed Hilton for Squires's murder by putting the body in a trunk with Hilton's initials on it. Royal and Moulton try to escape, and Tom is shot while trying to stop them. Tom then shoots Moulton, who falls out of a window to his death. After Royal is arrested, Steve publishes a story declaring Tom a hero.