Robbers steal the Koor-Hal Ruby, killing four in the process and eluding the police. The case catches the eye of Phil Bane, the newspaper’s managing editor, who sends for George Melville, a conceited crime writer and criminologist, hoping his sensational storytelling will boost circulation. Melville immediately theorizes that the crime was masterminded by Andre Berlea, a man believed to have died four years earlier. He boldly predicts to reporters that Berlea will next steal the Sunburst Diamond and kill the only witness, a loyal butler, to the ruby theft. Moments after his announcement, news arrives that a butler has indeed been murdered, lending credence to his eerie forecast.
On the way to Bane’s office, Melville is distracted by a car accident when a female panhandler uses the moment to slip his wallet away. He tracks her to a beauty salon, where the woman, after a dramatic makeover, begs him not to act until after 8 o’clock. Over dinner, she explains that she fled a cruel husband with another man, only to separate from him later. The ex-husband is now allowing her to see her four-year-old daughter, and she needs money to present herself properly. They drive to a grand mansion, where Mrs. Northrop faints at the sight of a coffin; Mr. Northrop explains the child died two days earlier. Yet nothing about this scene is quite as it seems.
What follows is a carefully staged deception by the reporters, one of whom is secretly writing a play, Fury’s Road, with Claire Peyton as the star. The whole episode is revealed to be an elaborate practical joke aimed at Melville. The producers behind the ruse keep up appearances, and the deception gains traction as a painting is stolen from next door. The producers, convinced of Melville’s value as a foe, hire him to help with the play, acknowledging that Berlea may still be alive. Melville explains Berlea’s motivation: a compulsion to possess beauty. Before his death, Berlea sought three such objects, but was refused. Two have already vanished, and Melville predicts that the third—the Starburst Diamond—will be purloined on Saturday at 11 pm.
As Bane embraces Melville’s theory, the authorities stage a bank stakeout, hoping to catch the anticipated theft. When the clock ticks past the deadline without incident, Bane fires Melville. Undeterred, Melville agrees to retreat to Gregory’s secluded hideaway for a rest. Gregory’s men have tunnelled a connection between the theater—where a World War I–set battle scene will unfold—and the bank. The premiere arrives, and amid simulated explosions and gunfire, the criminals slip into the vault. Peyton worries for Melville’s safety as the plot thickens, but Melville remains one step ahead. In a final confrontation, he captures the mastermind, exposing him as Berlea.
The climax leaves Peyton with a choice that marks the turning point of their relationship: she vows to “make him suffer for the rest of his life” by marrying him, a calculus of love and revenge born from the dangers they’ve just faced together.
