Mystery Street

Vivian phones the married man she has been dating, telling him she is in trouble. He fails to show up at the Boston bar where she works. Seizing the chance to act, she convinces drunken Henry Shanway to drive his car for her toward Cape Cod so she can confront him.

Shanway realizes they've been driven roughly 60 miles out of Boston and demands they turn back. Vivian refuses and ditches him, taking control of his car. He is left bewildered as she presses on toward Cape Cod.

In Cape Cod, Vivian meets her reluctant beau James Harkley. He shoots her, buries her in the dunes, and sinks the car in a pond to cover up the crime.

Shanway reports his car stolen, but he claims it had been parked by the hospital where his wife Grace is recovering from a miscarriage. His story shifts responsibility away from himself as investigators begin to connect the car to Vivian's disappearance.

Months pass before a skeleton is found on a Massachusetts beach. Detective Peter Moralas is assigned to the case, kicking off the formal investigation into Vivian's disappearance.

Dr. McAdoo, a forensics specialist at Harvard Medical School, analyzes the skeleton. Vivian, who had been reported missing by her friend Jackie Elcott, is eventually identified as the person the bones belong to.

Vivian's conniving landlady, Mrs. Smerrling, ignores the police and tracks down Harkley herself. He denies knowing Vivian and rebuffs Smerrling's blackmail attempt, but she manages to steal his gun for leverage.

Shanway's car is recovered and witnesses identify him as having been with Vivian on the night she died. The police tighten their case around him as investigators piece together the events.

Smerrling provides no useful information about Harkley or the gun, and the still-innocent Shanway is charged with murder based on the mounting evidence.

Smerrling attempts to stash the gun at a baggage check, but Jackie Elcott spots the weapon. She later reports its significance to Moralas, tying the gun to the earlier crime.

Smerrling and Harkley have a tense confrontation. He threatens to kill her and, when Mrs. Shanway interrupts, knocks her out and flees as Moralas arrives.

Smerrling dies, but Moralas finds her baggage claim check, linking her to the gun and the ongoing investigation.

Harkley is arrested at the train station after a foot chase, and Shanway is exonerated of the murder charge. The case moves toward closure with the true criminals identified.