Belle of the Nineties

The Tiger Kid was manipulated by his trainer, who arranged for another boxer to pretend Ruby had been unfaithful. Believing the ruse, the heartbroken Tiger Kid sent Ruby a breakup letter. This was a scheme to keep him focused on his training rather than distracted by romance.

The trainer's manipulation in St. Louis foreshadows the larger deception Lamont orchestrates in New Orleans.

Lamont claimed financial pressure from hosting the title fight and fabricated a story about giving a diamond necklace to a blackmailing woman. He pressured the Tiger Kid to act as the robber to steal back Ruby's jewelry, using the staged theft to influence betting on the fight and keep control over Ruby.

The robbery took place at night along a dark waterfront. The Tiger Kid was masked and the encounter was brief, so he could not see Ruby's face in the darkness. He did not know Ruby was the woman whose jewelry he was stealing.

This detail sets up their later reconciliation after the fight.

Ruby noticed that the robber had not taken Lamont's ring, which seemed odd. She later saw the Tiger Kid and Lamont meeting in the lobby and slipping upstairs together. From the adjoining room, she watched the Tiger Kid hand her jewelry to Lamont, who locked it in his personal safe.

Ruby suspected the fight was fixed and wanted to expose the conspiracy. By having her suitors bet against the Tiger Kid, she could prove the fix was orchestrated if the expected outcome occurred. This was her trap to reveal Lamont's scheme.

Lamont gave the Tiger Kid a bottle of water at a crucial moment during the fight, which Ruby suspected was drugged. After the fight, she told the Tiger Kid that Lamont had likely drugged him, explaining why he was finally knocked out after thirty rounds of strong fighting.

Ruby set a trap by giving Lamont other jewelry for safekeeping, then used opera glasses to observe the safe's combination from a distance. She cleaned out the safe before Lamont's planned arson, taking back her jewelry and his money as a counter-move against his scheme.

The Tiger Kid confronted Lamont after learning about the conspiracy and the doping. Enraged by the manipulation and the scheme that had hurt Ruby, he punched Lamont once, killing him. This was the climax of his anger over being used and deceived.

After killing Lamont with a single punch, the Tiger Kid was charged with murder. Newspaper headlines later showed he was cleared of the charges. The legal system determined his actions were justified or that the circumstances did not warrant a conviction.

During the confrontation and chaos after Lamont was killed, Ruby inadvertently lit the room on fire with a discarded cigarette. The fire spread quickly, forcing Ruby, the Tiger Kid, and Molly to rescue each other and call the fire department.

Molly Brant was romantically involved with Lamont, though he continually disregarded her and showed little genuine affection. When Lamont planned to flee, he locked Molly in a closet to prevent her from interfering, demonstrating his disregard for her feelings and safety.

The staged robbery was designed to steal back Ruby's jewelry, not Lamont's belongings. The plan was for the Tiger Kid to pose as a thief taking Ruby's things while leaving Lamont's property untouched, making it appear as if an external robbery had occurred.