Fingers at the Window

In Chicago, a series of axe murders terrorizes the city. Inspector Gallagher, with psychiatrist Dr. Immelman consulting, arrests a different suspect for each crime. Each man appears impervious to interrogation and spirals into paranoid schizophrenia, leaving the case largely unresolved.

From the shadows, a mastermind directs a bird shop owner to kill dancer Edwina Brown, handing him an axe. The shop owner becomes a pawn in a larger scheme targeting Edwina. The threat hinges on a mysterious plan behind the murders.

Edwina is targeted as she walks home at night, and the shop owner closes in with the weapon. The looming danger underscores the killer’s reach beyond the police’s initial arrests. Edwina senses that she could be next.

Oliver Duffy, an actor, spots the suspicious man tailing Edwina and warns her. Edwina reports Oliver to a police officer, who detains him for questioning. The moment marks the start of an unusual alliance around Edwina.

The shop owner continues to tail Edwina, and a confrontation erupts when Oliver and the officer intervene; the killer escapes into the night. The pursuit reveals a deeper conspiracy behind the murders. The danger to Edwina remains high.

Oliver escorts Edwina home, and the shop owner attempts another break-in through her window. Oliver stays vigilant, watching over her all night to deter another assault near dawn. The protection plan begins to take shape.

The next day, Oliver arranges safety measures for Edwina, sending a taxi to bring her home and placing a dummy in her bed to deter a killer. The shop owner attacks the dummy, triggering the alarm and leading to his capture. Oliver also passes Edwina a slip of paper taken from the perpetrator as a souvenir.

A different intruder later takes a fire axe and tries to enter Edwina's room, increasing the sense that someone is hypnotizing people into murder. Oliver suspects that hypnotism or manipulation is at work and notes that all seven killers' names begin with the letter B.

To investigate, Oliver pretends to be schizophrenic to gain entry to the psychiatric hospital where the arrested men are kept. He breaks into Dr. Immelman's file cabinet and discovers seven men, identified under the B entries, who were all connected to Dr. Santelle. Oliver concludes that the mastermind must be a psychiatrist.

Oliver escapes and takes Edwina to a seminar attended by local psychiatrists, hoping she might recognize one of them. Santelle is not present, leaving the mystery unresolved for the moment. The scene shifts the investigation from prisons to professional circles.

They go to Santelle's house, and the butler impersonates Santelle in a surgical gown and mask, sowing doubt in Edwina's mind. As they wait for an L train, a commotion erupts when someone pushes Oliver off the platform and he crashes to the street.

In the hospital, Edwina reveals she was once engaged to a man named Cesar in Paris, who left her without warning. The confession deepens their bond and strengthens their resolve to stop the impersonator. They pledge to face the danger together.

Santelle approaches Oliver and administers a lethal insulin injection, knocking him unconscious. Edwina realizes the impersonator is Cesar, not the real Santelle, and begins to pursue him. A nurse saves Oliver with a glucose injection just as the trail leads to Santelle's house.

Cesar's true motive is revealed: he impersonated Santelle to lay claim to a Chicago fortune after Santelle’s death in Paris. The seven murdered men had all known the real Santelle, tying the crimes to his will. As Cesar closes in on Edwina, the police arrive and Gallagher shoots him dead.

Oliver and Edwina are finally reunited and decide to marry immediately. The city returns to routine after the confrontation, and the couple looks toward a shared future.