Conflict

During their fifth wedding anniversary, Kathryn accuses Richard of having fallen in love with her younger sister Evelyn. Richard does not deny the charge, but accepts that they will not divorce. The accusation establishes a tense dynamic that shadows the rest of the story.

A party celebrating the anniversary is hosted by family friend and psychologist Dr. Mark Hamilton. Evelyn meets his younger colleague, Professor Norman Holsworth, during the gathering. The social setting intensifies the romantic complications facing the couple and Evelyn.

On the way home from the party, Kathryn slyly mentions that their mother is lonely, knowing Evelyn will feel obligated to move back home. The remark adds emotional pressure and hints at the strains on Evelyn. It foreshadows the manipulations that follow.

Angered by the mounting tensions, Richard crashes their car and suffers a broken leg. The accident launches his plan to exploit his perceived vulnerability. The event plants the seeds for the subsequent deception.

Richard commits to a desperate plan to appear wheelchair bound even after his leg heals. Dr. Grant diagnoses the problem as psychological and prescribes exercise as part of treatment. A mountain resort trip is arranged to execute the ruse.

Kathryn stops by Hamilton's home to ask him to check in on Richard. As they travel toward the mountains, Kathryn encounters an abandoned parked car blocking the narrow road. Richard steps from the fog and threatens her, and the audience is left to imagine what happens next.

Back at home, Richard orchestrates an alibi by meeting with an employee to finish some work. He then phones the mountain resort twice, claiming Kathryn has not arrived, and reports her missing to the police.

Police find a pickpocket in possession of Kathryn's cameo ring. Richard and Evelyn identify it as Kathryn's, but the thief claims he took it from a woman matching Kathryn after her disappearance. The ring fuels early suspicions about Kathryn's fate.

Richard smells Kathryn's perfume in their bedroom and finds her wedding ring inside a home safe. The discovery suggests the possibility that Kathryn is still alive or that someone staged the disappearance. The moment heightens Richard's doubt and paranoia.

Mark suggests a fishing vacation to relieve the strain, and Holsworth privately asks Evelyn to marry him. Evelyn remains undecided, and Richard misconstrues her hesitation as a response to him. He declares his love, but she denies it, and he later urges Holsworth to keep trying.

A pawn shop claim ticket arrives in Richard's name, purportedly with Kathryn's handwriting. At the shop, he finds Kathryn's locket and her signature in the register, but returning with the police, the register has changed and the locket is no longer there. The discrepancy deepens the mystery.

Richard sees a woman on the street who looks like Kathryn and follows her to an apartment. The place is vacant and no one is inside, stoking his hope of confirming her survival or identity. The moment adds to the theme of uncertain reality.

Unable to reconcile the conflicting events, Richard returns to the crime scene to check if Kathryn's body is inside the car. Hamilton and the police wait to confront him. Hamilton reveals that his suspicions were long-standing and that the investigators staged events to lure Richard into seeking Kathryn's body to prove his guilt.

Kathryn's body had been found and removed long before, and Richard is arrested as the truth is laid bare. Hamilton explains the entire setup, showing that the pursuit of the body was a controlled trap to force Richard to reveal what he knew. The deception ends with Richard facing consequences for his actions.