A charity benefit sponsored by David Thayar is staged aboard the S.S. Fortune, Phil Brant's gambling ship, and the evening features a lively jazz lineup. The band is led by Tommy Drake and includes the singer Fran Page along with the talented but volatile clarinetist Buddy Hollis. The atmosphere is tense but glittering, with the ship’s guests mixing high society with the edge of danger, and even the ship’s faithful performer Asta adds a touch of whimsy to the proceedings.
After a set, Drake informs Brant that he is quitting—having secured a much better booking through Mitchell Talbin. But Drake carries a grave problem: he owes gangster Al Amboy $12,000. Amboy, who is present at the party, demands payment that very night. Drake pleads for an advance, but [Mitchell Talbin] refuses to part with such a large sum. In a desperate move, Drake slips into Brant’s office and opens the safe, only to be shot from behind.
Following the murder, Brant and Janet Thayar must confront the fallout. Janet’s father, [David Thayar], disapproves of Brant’s lower-class status, yet the couple elopes and later appear at Nick and Nora Charles’s apartment, where Brant is identified as the prime suspect. When a bullet narrowly misses Brant, Nick decides to bring him to the police, believing the safer course is to have Brant openly investigated while he begins his own digging.
Nick quietly boards the Fortune to piece together what happened. He notices on the back of a sheet of music a receipt signed by Amboy, acknowledging that Drake’s debt has been paid. He then encounters Drake’s band musicians, who confirm that the bandleader had many enemies, including [Buddy Hollis]. [Clinker Krause], the band’s quirky clarinetist, agrees to help Nick, but they don’t uncover the killer right away.
The investigation leads Nick and Nora to a tense meeting with Janet, where they discover that the bullet’s origin likely traces to an antique gun—one that would be in [David Thayar]’s extensive collection. A missing gun from the collection becomes a crucial clue. Janet leaves after a phone call, and Nick and Nora follow her to [Fran Page]’s apartment, where they find [Fran Page] murdered, stabbed in the back. Janet asserts she arrived after the murder, claiming she was told to deliver information, but the timeline remains murky.
Further clues point to Buddy Hollis as a suspect, and Nick follows a trail to a sanitarium in which Buddy is being treated. Nora’s presence helps calm him, and when she returns later alone, Buddy grows agitated and confesses to the murder, pulling out an antique gun and aiming at Nora—though he misses. Nick remains skeptical of the confession, noting that Drake’s murder was executed with precision.
To force a verdict, Nick gathers all the suspects for a party aboard the reopened Fortune, announcing that Buddy has recovered and that he will reveal the killer that night. It’s then that a crucial clue comes to light: Amboy’s wife appears wearing a necklace that matches the earrings of [Phyllis Talbin], [Mitchell Talbin]’s wife. The necklace later reappears on Phyllis’s neck, prompting Nick to press [Mitchell Talbin]. Phyllis reveals that she paid Drake’s debt using the necklace, exposing a web of motive. As Buddy is urged to identify the killer, [Mitchell Talbin] finally confesses to both Drake’s and Fran Page’s deaths and draws a gun. In a shocking turn, Phyllis shoots him first, but her husband is only wounded. Ignoring Nick’s pleas to stop, Phyllis fires again, and the confrontation ends with her finishing the job. The truth about the crimes is laid bare, and Nora’s keen observations help bring the case to its dramatic conclusion.
