No Way to Treat a Lady

Christopher Gill is obsessed with his late mother, a noted stage actress. He preys on lonely middle-aged women and adopts various disguises—Irish priest, German plumber, flamboyant hairdresser, policeman, and transvestite—to win their trust. After securing their confidence, he strangles them and marks their foreheads with garish red lipstick.

Gill executes his initial murder by fooling his victim with a disguise, then strangles her. He paints a pair of lips on the forehead as a signature of his crime. The act showcases his method and ritual, setting the tone for the killings to come.

Police detective Morris Brummell is assigned to the murders and follows the case closely. He publicly describes the latest killing as well-planned and well-executed, which inflates Gill's ego and draws him into taunting the detective. Brummell gradually pieces together fragile clues while the killer watches from the shadows.

Brummell's overbearing mother pressures him to be more like his successful doctor brother and to settle down. Meanwhile, his new love interest, Kate Palmer, glimpses Gill just before the first murder. Palmer wins over Brummell's mother by claiming she intends to dominate her son and even become Jewish, complicating the social dynamics.

To draw Gill out, Brummell fabricates a sixth murder victim for the newspapers. The ruse is designed to provoke Gill into calling and describing his physical appearance. Gill, fooled by the ruse, becomes entangled in Brummell's cat-and-mouse game.

Gill suspects a copycat trap and phones Brummell to defend himself. Brummell uses the conversation to elicit details about Gill's appearance without exposing his identity. The exchange deepens the psychological duel between killer and detective.

Gill reads a faked newspaper report claiming a suspect has been arrested for the sixth murder. He calls Brummell to express relief, unaware that the supposed suspect has actually been released. The moment heightens Gill's sense of invulnerability and intensifies his plan against Palmer.

Angered by the ongoing pressure and the ruse, Gill shifts his focus to Kate Palmer, Brummell's love interest. He arrives at Palmer's apartment posing as a caterer and launches an attack, but is forced to flee before he can kill her. The failed attempt triggers a broader manhunt.

During the police chase, Gill is seen entering his theatre through a side door. Brummell begins to close in, investigating the theatre and its spaces for any sign of the killer. The theatre becomes the central stage for the final confrontation.

Brummell chats with a man he believes is a colleague, unaware that the man is Gill, Palmer's attacker. He notices a large portrait of a woman wearing deep red lipstick in the theatre lobby, and Gill inadvertently reveals that the portrait is of his mother. This moment exposes Gill's motive and lineage to the detective.

Brummell confronts Gill with growing suspicions, but Gill maintains a casual front. Brummell goes to inspect the costume room, and as he returns toward the stage, Gill attacks him with backstage rigging. The two men struggle in a deadly clash amid the theatre's machinery.

The confrontation reaches its climax when Brummell fatally shoots Gill during the struggle. Gill, mortally wounded, imagines some of his murder victims in the audience and begs Brummell for forgiveness before dying. The killer's reign ends in the theatre, the very place where his mother’s memory once inspired him.