In a sharp, twist-filled mystery, jeweler Milton Devereux is murdered and his dazzling diamond collection vanishes, drawing a relentless pursuit that pits headlines against hard evidence. The case lands on the desk of the fearless crime reporter Torchy Blane Glenda Farrell, whose curiosity and tenacity push the investigation beyond the police file. Her boyfriend, detective Steve McBride Barton MacLane, is already deep in the case, but Torchy refuses to sit on the sidelines, tagging along to uncover the weapon and the motive behind the crime.
The trail leads to a confrontation Milton had with Sonny Croy Gordon Oliver, a trouble-prone young man connected to a gambling debt and a looming loan. Sonny becomes a prime suspect until an alibi surfaces from the victim’s business partner, Guy Allister Joe King, who claims they were sharing a lunch at the time of the murder. Torchy and Steve press the restaurant staff for clues and discover a seemingly ordinary menu note that hints at a larger, more cryptic exchange.
As the investigation widens, Sonny’s whereabouts point toward Ila Sayre Marcia Ralston, a nightclub dancer who insists Sonny was on the phone with her during the crucial moment. Sonny himself explains the marked notes on the menu: he is touring the world by air and Zeppelin in a publicity stunt, a claim that tempts Torchy to follow the chase across continents. She convinces her newspaper to send her around the world in a race with Sonny and Hughie Sprague Hugh O'Connell, a rival reporter from the Daily Journal.
Their airborne odyssey sweeps them from the Pacific to Asia, then to Europe, with stops in Honolulu, San Francisco, Hong Kong, and Stuttgart. During a layover in Hawaii, Torchy slips into Sonny’s room and uncovers a hint that items will be exchanged in Stuttgart. Sonny, alerted by a lipstick Torchy had accidentally dropped in his room, tightens his guard and clutches his secrets even closer.
Ila eventually admits she did not speak to Sonny on the phone, and the tension tightens as Steve joins Torchy aboard the airship. The two begin to close in on the truth, and Steve plans to arrest Sonny after Torchy points out that the restaurant’s back door aligns with the jewelry store’s back door—an eerie feasibility that links motive to opportunity. But the airship drama takes a deadly turn when Sonny is found dead and the diamonds in his suitcase’s false bottom turn out to be fake.
With the evidence piling up, Torchy pieces together the real picture: Guy Allister is the architect of the deception, and Sonny had been working for him to clear a debt. The investigation intensifies as they uncover that Allister boarded the airship using a false name. In a final, perilous moment, Allister attempts to parachute out of the craft, but his plan collapses when the chute fails to open, sealing his fate.
Throughout the globe-spanning chase, a cast of colorfully linked figures—Maxie Monkhouse Raymond Hatton, Colonel Higgam Harry Davenport, and the others who dot the aviation-and-gossip-fueled storyline—serves as a chorus to Torchy’s relentless pursuit of truth. The story blends clever investigative work with brisk, international travel, creating a vivid tapestry that showcases Torchy’s wit, resilience, and knack for turning rumors into revelations. In the end, justice lands not just on the killer, but on the web of treachery that almost obscured a straightforward case of crime, deceit, and a treasure that proved to be only a mirage.
