Private Detective

John Eldredge as Millard Lannon sues his ex-wife Gloria Dickson Mona Lannon for custody of their son, a case that drags in the nation’s top detective agency where Jane Wyman Myrna Winslow works. Myrna sees right away that Millard’s motive goes beyond parental rights, hinting at control of a valuable child’s trust fund, and she refuses to testify against Mona. When her boss pushes, Myrna decides to quit, marries her police lieutenant fiancé, Dick Foran as Jim Rickey, and looks forward to a stable life with him, hoping the past stays behind them. Yet the case refuses to stay buried, and old loyalties quickly collide with new danger.

That night, Nat Flavin, Morgan Conway Millard’s lawyer, engineers a lethal turn when he kills Millard in his own home, masking the crime as a routine claim for protection after a supposed threat from Mona. A neighbor overhears the gunshot, and a witness spots Mona leaving the scene just as the echo fades. Myrna, now entangled in the fallout, follows the trail as Jim investigates the shocking murder, while his trusted assistant Brody Maxie Rosenbloom quietly joins the pursuit to aid in what becomes a dangerous, high-stakes inquiry.

Myrna discovers Mona hiding in a hotel and realizes the case is more twisted than she feared—Mona insists she’s innocent and urges Myrna to help her escape. Meanwhile Nat puts pressure on Donald Norton, John Ridgely to turn Mona in, and he even tries to secure himself as Mona’s defense attorney. The tension tightens as Myrna confronts Nat and pieces together the grim truth: Nat has appointed himself the legal guardian of Mona’s son to seize the boy’s trust fund, weaving a web of lies to keep Mona under his control.

Armed with new evidence, Myrna contacts Jim and reveals Nat’s guilt, drafting a report that implicates Nat in Millard’s murder and exposes the frame-up against Mona. Just as she prepares to share it over the phone and meet Jim at the office, Nat storms in, knocks Myrna unconscious, and drags her to his beach house. He is joined by his accomplice Chick Jerome, Dick Rich, as they intend to silence Myrna by removing her evidence.

Mona and Donald arrive with a retainer to defend their case, while Jim and Brody move to close in. A tense confrontation erupts in the garage, where Nat’s plan to poison Mona and Donald’s drinks is halted just in time. They locate Myrna’s report, and a desperate struggle ensues that ends with Nat and Chick subdued. In the aftermath, the truth about Millard’s death, the frame on Mona, and Nat’s ruthless bid for control come to light, and the trio—Myrna, Mona, and Donald—stand ready to clear Mona’s name and safeguard the child’s future.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 11:04