While cleaning out the apartment of he dead sister Julia, Jim Whitely comes across a strange glass eye and tells to his wife the story of how his sister acquired it. Julia had fallen in love with a famous ventriloquist name Max Collodi. She has been to all his performances and has sent letters requesting to meet him. One day, Max agrees to meet her. She comes to his hotel room and finds him sitting in darkness with his small dummy George. As they talk, Julia tries to touch Max. She screams as his body falls to the floor and one of his glass eyes falls rolling on the carpet. George stands and angrily asks her to leave. It was Max who was the dummy and George was the ventriloquist.

One day, Ronald Grimes recieves a letter from a Mr. Christianai who says he can predict the future. The letter correctly predicts the outcome of an upcomng election. More letters follow and through gambling, Grimes acquires a large amount of money. A final letter from Christianai asks for a contribution. Grimes gives it quite willingly. Later Grimes finds out that Christiani was a fraud. He was really a con man who sent out thousands of letters half of them predicting one kind of outcome, and the other half predicting another. Grimes was luck: he got the right predictions time after time.

An arrogant detective Charles Courtney prides himself on never having committed a single mistake in his long and distinguished career. He keeps a shelf of labeled mementos from each of his cases. On the shelf there is an open space and a blank tag for what Courtney calls ""The Perfect Crime"". One day a defense lawyer stuns Courtney when he confronts him with evidence that the detective helped convict an innocent man who has since been executed. Courtney kills the lawyer, bakes him in a pottery kiln, and places the vase in the open space on his shelf as a memento to his perfect crime.

Jackie Blake is released from prison after serving time for a bank robbery. A friend from prison arranges for Jackie to stay with his mother. Jackie does this and is accepted into the convict's family. Gradually, his attitude toward life changes. He gets a job and is quite content. Later, he learns that the family's hospitality was merely a front and that they took him in only to find out where he hid the stolen money from his bank job.

Donald Mason is a married professor who wants to end a romance with one of his stidents. He stops by while she is babysitting. He tries to end the relationship, but she threatens to expose him. He kills her and leaves a witness: the screaming baby she was watching. Later, Mason runs into the infant in a carriage on the street. At the sight of him the baby screams and cries. Haunted by the child's screams, Mason gives himself up. Later, however, he discovers that the baby has only been around women his entire life. It screams whenever any man comes near.

John Gaminsky finds a wallet containing a lot of money. He sees an ad in the paper asking for its return. His wife tells him to give the wallet back, but John lies to her and tells her already did so. When she sees the ad again, she realizes he kept the cash for himself. She gives him a choice: either ket her shop at an expensive store or she'll call the police. John opts for the former. When she goes on a buying spree, however, he realizes there is not enough to share. His wife comes to the same conclusion.

John Kedzie is released from prison after committing a robbery. Only Joe knows where the money is hidden: at the bottom of a mine shaft out in the desert. Maxie and Madge find Joe when he goes to retrieve the money. He agrees to cut them in. Maxie gets greedy and Joe shoots him. Unfortunately, he also puts a hole in their only canteen. Joe lowers himself down the mineshaft with a rope to retrieve the money. He ties the money to the rope and sends it up. When he tries to climb out, Madge cuts the rope and he falls and breaks his leg. Madge tries get away, but she discovers out that Joe has the keys to the truck.

Gerald Daniels is granted a last request on the eve of his execution. He asks for a typewriter. He writes a letter to a newspaper that recounts his criminal career. In the letter he explains how he once murdered a waitress who was trying to blackmail him, how the D.A. convicted her ex-husband of the crime, and how the man had been executed. He writes that he, now, is in the same position: he is going to be executed for a crime he did not commit. Before his death, he wants to testify that the D.A. is not only a sloppy prosecuter, but also a murderer.

Janice is a beautiful 17 year old who longs to free from the influence of her guardian Aunt May. She also wants to get out of the small town she's in. She asks her boyfriend Stan to marry her so that they can run away. Since he doesn't have a job, he keeps putting of the marriage. Janice do something herself. She meets a man named Tex and lures him home for a drink. When she hears a car outside she starts fighting with Tex. She rips her clothes and knocks over furniture. A policeman who saw Janice with Tex enters the house. He enters the house and discovers Aunt May's body. Janice tells the policeman that Tex killed her. The policeman accepts the girl's story. Then, however, Stan arrives. Having gotten a job he had come by the house to take Janice away. He found Aunt May's body lying in the spot where Janice left it after pushing her down the stairs.

Evan Wallace and his wife Janet take Janet's wealthy mother on an sightseeing trip to Mexico. Janet's Mother suddenly dies in the back seat of their car. They cover the body and stop at a cafe for a soothing drink. When they return, they discover that the car has been stolen. Since they need to body to claim their inheritance, they hire a detective. The detective eventually finds the body at a funeral home. He says he will ship the body to Los Angeles for a small ""fee"". The Wallaces agree and pay him. When the get to Los Angeles, a doctor prounces the body dead but he notes that the body is not that of a woman, but an old Mexican Man.

A plumber is blackmailing several suburban housewives. When he confronts his latest victim, Margot Brenner, he runs into a dead end. She catches onto his scam and uses his own method to bring him to down.

Miss Paisley adopts a stray cat. She names him Stanley. Stanley sneaks into the room of the violent tempered Mr. Rinditch. He tells Miss Paisley to keep the cat out of his room, but she fails. The cat sneaks into his apartment and Rinditch kills it. When Miss Paisley finds out, she grabs a knife to kill Rinditch, but she has second thoughts. She sits down and falls asleep. In the morning she wakes up wearing different clothes. The knife is also missing. She discovers that Rinditch has been stabbed to death and that a janitor has been charged with the crime. She is convinced she is the murderer but the police don't believe her. The janitor is later convicted and executed. Miss Paisley then discovers Stanley's collar. She remembers the murder. She did kill Rinditch and threw her bloodstained clothes and knife into a river. She now does the same thing with Stanley's collar so that no one can trace the crime to her.

D.A. Warren Selvey learns that he's on bad political ground beause of his low conviction rate. He decides to vigorously prosecute a man named Rodman. He wins the murder case and Rodman is sentenced to die. After the sentence, howeber, Selvey meets a man named Barnes who claims to have committed the crimes. Selvey is now being considered a candidate for Congress. Fearing the reprecussions of having convicted an innocent man, Selvey frightens Barnes into silence. The night Rodman is to be executed, Barnes shows up and urges Selvey to call the governor. Selvey refuses and in an ensuing struggle Barnes is killed. Selvey's political ambitions are ruined. Days later Selvey learns that Barnes was a fake. He was a crazy retired judge who would study the evidence of a case and then confess to the crime.

Eddie Slovak meets an old Army buddy named Pete who once saved his life. He intends to repay his friend. He offers him money for a business, but Peter refuses. Eddie tries to talk to Pete's wife Louise. Louise falls for Eddie and the two become romantically involved. Eddie eventually kills her. Later he explains to Pete that he did him a favor since she was cheating on him. Pete calls the police and Eddie is arrested. Pete goes to see Eddie's girlfriend and explains that their plan worked. Louise is dead and Eddie is out of the way. Now, the two of them can be together.

At an officer Christmas part Shelley calls Tony and tells him he must get a divorce and marry her. She threatens to tell his wife about her if he doesn't. After the party, Tony comes to Shelley's office. When she threatens him again, he stabs her. He tries to leave the office but discovers that the door is locked. He finds the keys but uses the wrong one and jams the door. He tries other ways, but they all fail. Eventually he hears some carolers outside on the streets below. He writes a note and using the keys to weigh it down, he drops it out a window. The keys prove too heavy and the note sinks into the snow.

Sylvia is a young woman who is contemplating suicide. Her ex-husband Peter married her for money. When her father discovered this, he forced him to divorce her. Sylvia is in touch with Peter and wants him back. Peter calls her father and tells him that he will to stay out of her life for a price. Sylvia's father tells her about his blackmail scheme. She tells him that she bought a gun to use on Peter if they did not get back together. She goes to her room alone and his followed by her father who fears she might kill herself. When he comes in, she shoots him saying that he never let her live her own life.

Tommy Greer is a crime buff who decides to commit a motiveless murder in order to confuse the police. He selects his victim from a phone book at random. He tracks him down and kills him but his ""perfect crime"" is unravelled by modern crime-fighting techniques.

Millicent Bracegirdle is a sheltered old woman who decides to go to Paris. Her visit does not turn out well when she accidently enters the wrong hotel room and gets locked inside with a notorious murderer.

Eldon Marsh is physically weak man whose wife is stolen by a much larger man named Wayne Phillips. He sets about a revenge that results in a rooftop confrontation with Wayne. The match seems uneven, but Eldon has an equalizer: a gun.

Fran is a housewife addicted to gambling. Her bookie threatens to tell her husband if she doesn't pay up a loan by five that afternoon. She needs to raise 25 dollars fast. She manages to scrape up five dollars and then tries to shoplift the rest. She is caught by a store detective. As they drive off in his car the detective listens to her story and offers her twenty dollars in exchange for a little romance. She refuses and the car crashes. She flees the scene of the accidnet but accidently leaves her purse and the money. She returns home and is surprised to have her purse returned by the police. It now contains twenty dollars which they found in the car and assumed was hers. She now has enough money to pay off the loan. After her husband calls to say that he must go to Chicago on business, Fran calls her bookie. Instead of paying him the money she tells him to put twenty-five dollars on a horse named Chicago Flyer.

Jordon and Eve Ross are a married couple who are constantly fighting. Their latest argument is interrupted by the sudden appearance of a wanted murderer named Lacey. He holds them captive all night. Lacey ends up being an effective marraige counselor. Through the night he convinces the couple to amend their differences. All of this is despite the fact that Lacey is wanted for murdering his wife and her lover.

Sgt. Andre is a returning veteran from the French-Algerian war. He heads home to his estate with his crippled friend Marcel. Marcel lost his leg saving Andre's life. Along the way Andre falls for a beautiful girl Teresa even though he is already engaged to be married. Marcel and a good web of lies help Andre out of his problem.

Mr. Waterbury in interested in buying a high priced hosue. Sadie Grimes, the house's owner, invites Waterbury in for a drink. She says the price is nonnegotiable. The place has strong sentimental value for Sadie: her son was killed there with a mysterious bag that has since never been found. She believes the bag contained money which is hidden somewhere in the house. Waterbury says he will buy the house despite its inflated price. Sadie accuses him of being her son's murderer. Waterbury confesses that he is the murderer, but he slumps over dead. His drink had been poisoned.

Lucia meets and falls in love with a man named Allen Bliss at a party that is a celebration of her engagement to another man: John St. Rogers. She decides to break the engagement. She later discovers that Allen is already married. The lovers decide to go for a ride in a sailboat to discuss their plans. They are subsequently lost in the fog and are never seen again.

Ted Franklin is a reporter who is assigned to cover the trial of an Arab leader accused of murder. His stories about the Arab leader's guilt win him international acclaim. When his stories begin to stress the Arab's innocence he loses his prestige. When the Arab is found guilty and executed, Frank is fired and humiliated. Later, Franklin's past is revealed: he killed German general and stole a number of war souvenirs. Franklin finds himself in the news again, but this time he is on the receiving end.

A handsome homicide detective is befriended by four old ladies who invite him for tea and proceed to play out a variation of Arsenic and Old Lace for his benefit.

Walter Richmond is a gullible tennis player with a nose for snooping. He meets a woman named Laura Gild and tries to learn everything about her. His curiosity does not pay off when she and her supposedly dead husband scam him for money.

Mary Maloney is a devoted wife and an exceptional housekeeper. One day, he husband, the police chief, announces that he wants a divorce because he has met another woman. Mary is quite angy and kills him with a blow from a frozen leg of lamb. She calls the police and provides and alibi for herself with the story that she'd been out to the store when the murder took place. The investigating officer, Lieutenant Noonan is further frustrated when he cannot to find the murder weapon. Knowing of the long and hard hours spent looking into the case, Mary invites Noonan to the other investigators for a bite to eat. They dig into Mary's leg of lamb and Noonan still thinking about the missing murder weapon says ""For all we know, it might be right under our very noses.""

Harold Goames comes across a book of crime statistics and learns that the most select class of criminals in the country is made up of murderers. He immediately decideds to join that class and murders his sister Margaret. His dream of joining the class of murders is does not come true because police mistakenly rule that her sister died of natural causes.

Paula Frayne's husband Norman is a chonic worrier who shows her little attention. When an old friend of Norman's shows up and shows too much interest in Paula, Norman becomes difficult. Paula becomes convinced that Norman no longer loves her and moves out of the house. She was wrong, however. Norman really loves her and threatens murder to prove it.

Charlie Boerum has been carrying on a long standing feud with his sister Celia because he believes that she killed his wife. When the family lawyer shows up on Christmas Eve to make an attempt to reconcile the two, he discovers that they are still squabbling. He also discovers that they are also planning each other's murder.

Three women have been strangled. Police arrest a stocking salesman as the killer. Mr. Morgan knows who the real culprit is: he has seen the next murder in a dream. He tries to tell people, but no one listens. His wife ignores him as well which is unfortuante because she's the strangler's next victim.

Steve and Judy Archer are having money problems. When Judy's first husband Harry died of a heart attack, Judy collected on a large insurance police Steve sold him. Judy and Steve were then married and Steve quit his job, but later squandered most of Judy's money. The couple discovers that Harry bought a winning Sweepstakes ticket. Unfortunately, the winning ticket is in his pocket and he is buried six feet under. Judy wants to dig up the corpse, but Steve doesn't. Judy gets help from a reporter who digs up the body and finds the ticket. Later the reporter reveals himself as an insurance detective. He believes Harry was murdered, possibly by Steve. Later while Judy is in the bath, Steve returns and takes the winning ticket. He throws an electric heater in the bathtub. Judy screams and Steve runs, right into the arms of the waiting police. Judy emerges from the bathroom unharmed. The detective removed the fuse so she was not electrocuted. As Steve is led away by the police, Judy takes th

Jack Lyons is interrogated by the police. He accidently reveals himself as a murderer when he identifies a crocodile dressing case and the initial's engraved on it. Since the initials were engraved on it shortly before the murder and fell off during the murder, only the killer and victim could have known about them. Jack is promptly arrested.

William Botibol is a compulsive gambler. While on a cruise he enters a betting pool to guess the number of miles the ship will travel in the course of twenty four miles. William gains some inside information when he learns that the ships is going to slow down to avoid an upcoming storm. Unfortunately the storm passes and the ship continues to speed on its course. He decides to force the ship to slow down by throwing himself overboard. He figures that when word gets out of someone going overboard the ship will slow down to get him. He picks out a witness and jumps overboard. The witness doesn't say a word. She's mentally ill and does not alert anyone to Williams plight.

George Piper is a bank teller and gambler. One day, a gambler named Victor arrives at the bank and makes a large withdrawl. Later, George visits Victor and kills him. He takes Victor's money and hides it in a secret place in his teller's cash drawer at the bank. The police question George, but clear him of any wrongdoing. George's boss, however, fires him. He demands the key to the crash drawer where George hid the money in order to give it to George's replacement.

Laura Bowlby is a psychic who wants to visit her husband in Hong King. She is picked up by a chauffer in a black sedan. Laura Bowlby says she does not like the color and would prefer a canary yellow one instead. This remark shocks the driver since the car was once canary yellow before a recent paint job. Inside the car, Laura begins to hear a woman's voice. The voice tells Laura about a passionate affair. Laura longs for such passion in her life because her husband James is quite unromantic and cold. After some research, Laura find the grave of the woman who has been talking to her. She looks at the gravestone and is unpleasantly surprised to see the initials of the dead woman and the initials of her own husband, James.

A woman who once accused Henry Dow of a crime enters the town and he invites her to stay with him and his sister. She tells Henry that she is carrying a large amount of money since she is planning an investment. Henry kills her for the money and dumps her body into the river. Henry then attends a dedication ceremony held on a bridge overlooking the river. When a body floats by, Henry is asked to identify it as the missing Miss Wilkinson. Without really looking at the body, he says it isn't her. A police detective asks Henry's sister to identify the body. Before she can have a look Henry confesses to the murder. Unfortunately for him, the body wasn't Miss Wilkinson's at all. It was someone else.

Colin Brackner is an elderly actor who invites a playwright Adam Longsworth and his wife over to dinner. During dinner Colin talks about a long lost love. The tale deeply effects both Adam and his wife practically reducing them to tears. Colin reveals that the tale is a deception. Recognizing the talent needed to pull off such a deception, Adam invites Colin to be part of his new production.