Decoy

A man, later revealed to be Dr. Lloyd Craig, hitches from a rural California gas station to a San Francisco apartment and exchanges gunfire with a young woman. The encounter ends with the man dead and the woman mortally wounded, drawing detectives to the scene. This opening sets off the investigation that frames the rest of the plot.

Police Detective Joe Portugal arrives at the apartment to find the man dead and the woman mortally wounded. He begins questioning the surviving woman to learn what happened and why. The investigation promises to reveal a larger motive tied to a stolen fortune.

The surviving woman is Margot Shelby, Frankie Olins's lover. Through her account, the audience learns about the armored car robbery that yielded $400,000 and the missing fortune. Margot's bitterness pushes her toward a new scheme to recover the money.

Margot teams with Jim Vincent to find Frankie's stash. They first try to appeal Frankie's conviction to delay his execution and search for clues. The failure of the appeal pushes them toward a clandestine, riskier plan.

With Frankie's execution imminent, Margot conceives a plan to revive him post-execution. She enlists Dr. Lloyd Craig's help to make the revival possible. The scheme hinges on timing and secrecy.

Margot seduces Dr. Lloyd Craig and secures his involvement in the revival plan. His expertise becomes critical to bring Frankie back from death. The plan moves from theory to a dangerous real-world attempt.

Frankie is executed, and his body is discreetly removed from the prison without an autopsy. Margot's hired thugs kill the hearse driver to maintain cover and have a decoy for cremation. The deception sets the stage for the revival to occur elsewhere.

The body is delivered to Dr. Craig's office, where he administers methylene blue via a breathing mask to revive Frankie. The revived man is briefly disoriented but soon willing to reveal the location of his hidden money. The revived sequence reopens the path to the loot.

After revival, Frankie is coaxed into revealing a hand-drawn map to the fortune. He is then shot to death by Jim Vincent, eliminating a key witness and partner. The trio advances toward the burial site to claim the loot.

Margot, Jim, and Craig drive toward the burial site. En route, Margot deliberately runs Jim over after he changes a tire, killing him to remove a loose end. The remaining players continue toward the expected location of the money.

At the burial site, Dr. Craig is forced to dig; a wooden strongbox is retrieved. Margot takes the strongbox and shoots Dr. Craig twice in a triumphal moment. The heist appears complete, but danger remains.

The narrative returns to the present; Dr. Craig's motivation for shooting Margot is revealed as he recounts the events. Margot dies after finishing her confession, and Detective Portugal prepares to open the strongbox. The truth behind the loot's whereabouts seems sealed in the box.

Portugal opens the strongbox to find only scrap paper and a single envelope containing a one-dollar bill and a note addressed to 'you who double crossed me'. The note underlines Margot's contempt and the emptiness of the fortune. The scene ends on a chilling, ironic note.