After having a nervous breakdown, former ballet dancer Elsa Spann has to give up her career and spend her time living in a trailer park with her husband Carl. One evening, Carl returns home and finds the everything in disarry. Elsa tells him that she was attacked by a man who almost killed her. Instead of going to the police, Carl decides to get his own revenge. He takes Elsa to the car and they go for a drive. On the way she identifies a man and says he attacker her. Carl follows the man and later kills him. When Carl and Elsa are on their way home, however, Elsa sees another man. She, then, claims that he was the man that attacked her. As the police pull up behind them, Carl realizes that his wife has gone crazy and that he has just killed an innocent man.

A famous pianist returns to his home town to find the man who murdered his father only to find out that he himself is the killer.

Red Hillman challenges a cowboy named Del Delaney to a shootout. When Maggie Flynn tries to stop them, she is ignored. The two men decide to draw when a clock on the mantel strikes the hour. Maggie takes a cross off of the mantle and says she wants to protect it from possible damage from a stray bullet. As the two are about to duel, they notice that the mantel clock has stopped. Maggie claims that it is a sign from God that there should be no duel. The two men are surprised and believe her. They make their peace and go away. Later Maggie reveals the truth. She explains that cross was on the mantel to balance the clock. The clock stopped because she moved the cross.

Frank and his wife Mildred are in need of cash as they are approach their retirement. Frank thinks up a scheme where his wife will disappear for seven years. He will have her declared legally dead and they will then collect her insurance money. They set their plan in motion. A detective, thinking that Mildred had been killed, promises to find the body and send Frank to jail. He pursues Frank relentlessly for seven years. Finally, two days before the seven year time limit is up Mildred reappears. She is a much changed woman. She doesn't want to be with Frank anymore and has only showed up for the money. Frank becomes enraged and kills her. Her body is found by the detective. After seven years, he is finally able to charge Frank with murder.

Diane Winthrop comes to the 1899 Paris World's Exposition and checks into a hotel with her mother. Her mother becomes seriously ill. A hotel doctor asks Diane to go out for medicine. When she returns, her mother has vanished into thin air. No one remembers either Diane or her mother. Even the appearance of the hotel room has changed. Diane begins to fear that she is going insane. Fortunately, she is able to solve the mystery. Her mother died of bubonic plauge. Fearing a public panic in tourist filled Paris, everyone in the hotel conspired to make it look as if her mother had never existed.

Dan Varrel is a gangster who promises revenge on Lois Williams. Lois is a nightclub singer who indirectly caused the death of his brother. When he gets out of prison he finds out that Lois is in economic trouble. Dan decides to give her a little help. He gets her a job and helps out in other ways. Dan only does this so that his revenge will be all the sweeter.

William Callew is a hard hearted and stoic businessman who believes that any display of emotion is a sign of horrible weakness. William gets into a car accident during a drive to New York. He regains consciousness only to find himself completely paralyzed. Everyone who sees his body presumes that he is dead. His body is taken to the morgue where a coroner examines him and concludes that he is dead. In desperation and hopelessness, Callew begins to cry. Someone notices and he is saved.

Ralph Montgomery is a real estate agent. He pampers his wife by hiring a cook named Mrs. Sutton. He has second thoughts when he discovers that that the police are looking for a woman who, posing as a cook, has recently killed three people. Having grown suspicious of Mrs. Sutton, Ralph takes a cup of hot chocolate she made for him and has it tested. He is shocked to discover that it contains a dangerous amount of arsenic. He goes home and immediately fires Mrs. Sutton. As she is leaving, Mrs. Sutton tells him that his wife has been cheating on him. Ralph is in for another shock when he discovers that the real cook/murderess has been arrested. Ralph realizes that it must have been his wife that was trying to kill him.

Charlie Raymond is a gambler. He bets on the horses and loses. He owes a lot of money and, hence, needs to get out of New York. He looks in the newspaper and finds an ad. Someone is looking for a fellow Londoner to drive him to San Francisco. Raymond meets with the man who placed the ad. He is named Hendricks. Hendricks gives Raymond the job. They travel across country. Raymond secretly goes through Hendricks briefcase as they travel. The papers within prove that Hendricks must get to San Francisco in order to claim a sizable inheritance. As they drive through the Nevada desert, Raymond kills Hendricks and leaves his body. Raymond drives on to San Francisco. He now claims to be Hendricks. As he goes to collect he money he walks into a trap set up by the police. There he unwittingly confesses to murder.

Someone is impersonating Albert Pelham. Mr. Pelham thinks that his life is being taken over by the doubles life. Pelham decides to take action against the double. He changes his bank signature. Unfortunately, the double manages to duplicate it. Finally, at his apartment Pelham is able to confront his double. The false Pelham insists that he is the real one. Pelham becomes almost convinced and goes insane.

Stanley Krane and his wife Dorothy are own a grocery store owners are are annoyed by the constant fighting of the Verbers, their next door neighbors. One day, Mrs. Verber comes to the store looking for something. The Kranes become suspicious when a detective tells them that he heard Mr. Verber has been murdered. Dorothy beings to look into the case. She finds out that no one has seen Mr. Verber in days. She and her husband accompanied by a detective later finds Mr. Verber's body. Mrs. Verber quickly admits to the murder. She claims that her husband was about to run off with another woman. Mrs. Verber also adds that she killed the wrong person. She says she should have killed her husband's lover, Dorothy Krane.

A ex-convict names Stretch gets a job as a department store Santa. He hopes to rob the store. He meets up with a potential delinquent nicknamed the 10th Avenue kid. He decides to take his role as Santa seriously and he helps the boy change his ways.

Martha Cheney, an elderly invalid, has only one preoccupation in life. She wants to protect a priceless vase that has been in her family for generations. Lyle Endicott, a dishonest ex-museum curator, wants the vase and uses a forged letter to get close to Miss Cheney and the vase.

After Benjamin Stepp is fired from his job at an investment firm, he thinks about suicide. Instead he decides to kill his boss. The next day his boss reappears alive. Stepp is offered a promotion and raise. Stepp later learns that the new Baldwin is actually a look-alike who was hired to impersonate his old boss to keep the firm's stock up. The scheme continues until Stepp is fired again. He again thinks about suicide but decides to kill his other boss, the man who masterminded the impersonation scheme, Mr. King.

Sam Donleavy wants to kill his girlfriend and get away with it. He contacts a man who provides alibis for a price. Matters become much more complicated, however, when he meets with a friend from boyhood who is now a detective and who suspects that something is up.

Sam Cobbett escapes from prison and breaks into a farm house. He intimidates a woman into helping him until the heat is off. The woman, however, acts very strange. Later, he realizes much too late that the woman's odd behavior is due to her being deaf. It is her inability to hear that eventually gives him away to the police.

A reporter discovers the truth about the infamous Lizzie Borden murder case.

Two retired salesmen propose a theory that most murders occur in hot weather. They see a potential murder victim in the nagging wife of a longshoreman Mrs. Shrike. They tell her to take precautions, but their efforts fail and she is murdered.

Ralph Cowell is desperate when an old creditor calls him to to settle a large IOU. Ralph kills the creditor but discovers that the IOU was stolen by a bum named Goodfellow. Goodfellow also witnessed the murder and he and a friend begin to blackmail Ralph. They move into his apartment and begin to pawn his valuable belongings. Ralph manages to retrieve the IOU. He immediately evicts the bums. Later, the police arrive. They carrying a a bunch of pawn tickets cashed in by the derelicts. Ralph tells the police that the stolen merchandise belongs to him. He realizes too late that Goodfellow also pawned a cigarette case that belonged to his murdered creditor. He realizes that it is only a matter of time before the police figure this out and discover that he is the murderer.

Fabian is a vaudeville ventriloquist. One night, the body of a murdered man named Ockham is found near the theater where Fabian is performing. Detective Krovitch begins an investigation. He learns that shortly before the murder Ockham tried to see Fabian. Krovitch questions Fabian and his wife and notices that Fabian is more interested in his female marionette Riabouchinska than his wife. Later Krovitch sees Fabian act and begins to question Fabian's mental state. During the performance Fabian and Riabouchinska act like two lovers. Krovitch checks the police files for photos of a missing girls. He finds one that has resemblances Riabouchinska. The detective confronts Fabian who admits he had a relationship with the girl and that Ockham found out about it. Ockham also knew that the marionette was created in her image.

Mary Prescott returns to the West after an interview with an Iron Curtain dictator who gave her a safe conduct pass. On the train ride back she meets a soccer player named Jan Gubak. Jan is going to West Germany to see his sick sister. His sister needs money for an operation. The chance encounter leads to problems when Jan, knowing that Mary's safe conduct pass will prevent her from being searched, asks her to smuggle a valuable watch over the border.

Ray Clements goes to a remote monastery and pretends to be a friend of a man named Rocco who was staying in the monastery bed-ridden after being involved in a near fatal car accident. Ray wants to murder Rocco because Rocco had cheated him. Father Vincent stops the murder. Ray, having a change of heart, decides to forgive Rocco. He later learns that Rocco is already dead. He died from injuries he acquired in the car crash.

Herbert and Hermione Carpenter plan to leave England for a stay in America. Herbert secretly plans to stay in there, while Hermione wants to be back in England for Christmas. Before leaving, Herbert kills his wife. He buries her in the basement. Herbert then goes to America. There he receives a letter from England addressed to his wife. It concerns Hermione's Christmas gift to Herbert: a wine cellar. Unfortunately, the construction requires an excavation of the Carpenter's basement.

Two brothers named Henri and Paul inherit some money from a recently departed uncle. They learn that they will get even more money when their Aunt Rosalie passes away. Henri and Paul place ground-up glass into the eggs intended for her souffle. Rosalie, however, decides to have fish instead. Paul accidentally eats the eggs for breakfast. After Paul's death, Henri realizes that he is now Rosalie's sole heir. Unfortunately, however, he knows that the police will come and that he will go to jail for the attempted murder of his aunt and the accidental murder of his brother.

Monica Laughton is an eccentric old woman who has the strange habit of hanging a funeral wreath on her door when she wants to announce the passing of one of the members of her imaginary family. Frank and Lorna Bramwell decide to rob Monica. They believe she has money stashed away in the house. They pose as distant relatives. Monica gives them a tour of the house and introduces them to her imaginary family. Frank and Lorna search the house, but don't find anything. Frank threatens Monica, but she ignores him and begins to feed her imaginary cat. The next morning Frank and Lorna eat several cupcakes for breakfast. Monica says that she cooked the cupcakes for mice. Frank and Lorna fall over dead because the cupcakes were laced with arsenic. Monica hangs two wreaths on her door and everyone assumes she is just imagining again.

Arthur Arlington is in heaven talking to an angel about his death. He was murdered and wants to know who killed him. The angel permits him to return to earth to recreate the murder scene and learn the murderer's identity. Arthur comes up with a list of suspects that includes his wife Carol, his wife's lover Wally Benson, his secretary Talbot, and his nephew Vincent. Just before midnight, Arthur gathers all the suspects in the library and openly questions them. Each denies that they are his killer. Unable to resolve this puzzle, Wally suggests that the lights be turned off. In the darkness Arthur is again stabbed. He returns to heaven and talks about the murder with the angel. He deduces that only one person would have trusted Benson not to turn the lights back on. The murderer must have been Carol, Arthur's wife.

Mr. Crabtree needs money for an operation for his wife. He answers a help wanted ad and is hired by Mr. X. Mr. X wants Crabtree to kill someone who has been blackmailing him. Crabtree agrees to do it for one thousand dollars. Mr. X arranges for the target to call Crabtree for the next blackmail payment. The phrase the man will use to identify himself is 'Do you have a contribution from a mutual friend?' Crabtree is to give him an envelope, which actually contains a suicide note, and is to push him out the window. The man appears and Crabtree gives him the envelope. He then has second thoughts about the murder. He angrily approaches the man who then steps back and accidently falls to his death. The police find the note and presume it was a suicide. While waiting to receive his money, Crabtree is visited by another man who asks for a contribution from a mutual friend.

Four years ago Jocelyn, the first wife of Mark Halliday mysteriously disappeared. Mark has since remarried. One day, he he discovers a painting of a woman that looks exactly like his vanished former wife. He traces the painting to a man named Arthur Clymer who claims that Jocelyn posed for him and that she is still alive. Mark says that he is wrong. He confesses to having murdered his wife. This, however, is exactly what Clymer and Jocelyn's still-grieving brother wanted to hear. They created this scheme to get Mark to confess and send him to prison.

Laurence Appleby is an antique dealer that owes his business associates thousands of dollars. His wife refuses to let him borrow on her insurance policy. He decides to killer her. He consults a book on accidental deaths and finds a perfect method: he kills her by pulling a rug out from under her. Laurence then marries a wealthy widow who agrees to pay his debts. When he spends most of his time in his shop, his new wife becomes angry. Laurence's debts begin to grow and his new wife refuses to pay them. He then plots to pull a rug out from under her. Unfortunately the new Mrs. Appleby has read the same book and has given a letter to her lawyer about her husband's method of murder. She instructs the lawyer to tell the police if anything were to happen to her. The lawyer reads the letter and calls Mrs. Appleby to check if she is all right. As Mrs. Appleby moves to the phone, she accidentally trips on a disheveled rug and falls to her death.

Karen Stewart has a serious drinking problem. One day, her boyfriend Jeff urges her to come to an important cocktail party and she reluctantly agrees. At the party Karen drinks heavily and, to Jeff's embarrassment, she goes to a bar with another man. Jeff tracks her down and urges her to come with him. She waves him aside and promptly passes out. The next morning she wakes up in jail. She is under arrest for the murder of her boyfriend. Apparently, she slashed his throat in a drunken stupor.

Howard Latimer makes a bet with two Englishmen that he'll be able to stay alone at night at the Hurstwood Manor, a terrifying haunted house. Latimer is given a candle, a match, a loaded gun, and a book that explains the ghostly history of the manor. An escaped lunatic once broke into the house, beheaded a young girl named Julia, and caused her sister to go insane. While in the house, Latimer sees the ghost and fires upon it without results. Several years later, the two Englishman meet up with Latimer and explain that it was all a hoax. Latimer suddenly tries to strangle one of them. An attendant from the local asylum from which he escape, restrains Latimer. Apparanly Latimer has gone insane. In his insanity, he only wants one thing: to get to his sister Julia.

Lottie Slocum is questioned by the police about the murder of Mrs. Nash whom she was baby-sitting on the night of the murder. The police leave after they learn she knows nothing. Lottie is invited over to a neighbors Mrs. Armstedder. At Mrs. Armstedder, Lottie blabs that Mrs. Nash was having an affair with a man named DeMario. Lottie, then, says Mr. Nash had an interest in her. In reality, she is infatuated with the man. Lottie's imagination begins to run wild. She begins to write a love letter to Nash, but never finishes it as Nash appears and strangles her.

Clint Ringle is in love with Ella Marsh. He builds a house for her believing that she love him in return. Ella tells him that she is engaged to another man. Clint angrily kills her fiance in a jealous rage. Clint hides in the belfry of the school house. During the funeral for Ella's fiance, one of the mourners decides to ring the school's bell in tribute. The swinging bell startles Clint and his sudden screams give him away to those that search for him.

Dana Edwards's fiancee is killed in a hit-and-run car accident. He struggles to remember the car's license number, but can't. A man named Hurley approaches him. Hurley says that his son also died in a hit and run car accident. He says he can help Dana remember the the license number. At Hurley's prodding Dana eventually remembers the number. Hurley, however, was just a nut who never had a son.

Irene Cole and her cheating husband go to Palm Beach. There she meets two men: Randolph Burnside and Prince Burhan. The prince falls in love with her and vows to commit suicide if she does not leave her husband. She refuses. He accidentally kills himself in a car accident. Irene is very upset. Randolph then learns that the prince was after Irene for her money. He also finds out that he died because his car's breaks were accidentally disconnected by a mechanic. Randolph tries to tell Irene but discovers that she is a changed woman. He husband now adores her and attends to her every need. Deciding not to ruin things, he doesn't tell Irene about the Prince.

Paula Hudson purchases a mink coat on a tip from her hairdresser. She later finds out it is stolen. The police question her and she says she bought it from a fashion model. When the police question the hairdresser and the model, both deny any knowledge of the fur. Paula later meets with a man to discuss the fur. She discovers that he is the man who stole the mink. He know wants it back. Paula refuses to give it to him. Later, the police tell that they have arrested the thief and his two accomplices: the model and the hairdresser.

Gil Larkin is secretly in love with a married singer named Mona Cameron. Mona tells him that she is being abused by her husband. Gil goes to her husbands office to confront him. He is on the phone. A man with a gun enters behind Gil. Mona's husband identifies him as a man named Ritchie before he is shot dead. Gil is then knocked unconscious. When Gil comes to he sees that the gun has been placed in his hand. He picks up the phone, hears music on the other end. The phone, then, hangs up. Gil is questioned by the police, but is released. He goes to talk to Mona. At her apartment, he puts on a record and hears the same music that ways playing on the phone. He accuses Mona of arranging her hisband's murder. Ritchie sneaks in behing Gil, but before he can do anything the police arrive and arrest the conspirators.

A serial killer known as "the strangler" terrorizes a New York neighborhood.

A man ends up running to the Mexican border after trying to collect money his employer owes him.