Star of Midnight

Dal Dalzell, a New York lawyer and playboy, is hired by his old friend Tim Winthrop to locate Alice, who disappeared in Chicago a year ago. Winthrop cannot shake the feeling that she is in New York. Dal accepts the case, starting a cross-city investigation that blends glamour with danger.

Dal accompanies Donna Mantin to the hit stage show Midnight, where a masked actress named Mary Smith performs. Winthrop recognizes the actress and blurts out the name 'Alice,' linking the performance to the missing woman. The audience senses a dangerous connection between the theater and the mystery.

Mary Smith vanishes in mid-performance, leaving the audience in confusion. Winthrop's outburst ties Mary to Alice and deepens the mystery surrounding the disappearance. Dal realizes that the show may hold the key to Alice's whereabouts.

Gossip columnist Tommy Tennant claims to have a vital clue, but he is shot in Dal's suite before he can reveal anything. Dal becomes the prime suspect, though Inspector Doremus doubts his guilt and allows him to continue investigating. The shooting triggers a tense search for who manipulated the case and why.

Inspector Doremus expresses his doubt about Dal's guilt and grants him the freedom to investigate on his own. He provides a framework for Dal to chase down clues while keeping him under watch. The arrangement keeps the case moving while heightening the sense of suspicion around Dal.

Dal negotiates with gangster Kinland to retrieve letters that could embarrass Donna. He uses blackmail to obtain them, only to discover they actually belong to a friend of Donna. The revelation complicates the motive and keeps the investigation murky.

Dal is visited by his old flame Jerry, now married to lawyer Classon. Classon is also searching for Alice and believes she can provide an alibi for his client, the Chicago murder convict. The encounter shows how tangled relationships connect to the missing woman.

Dal rigs a trap in a Greenwich Village apartment, pretending to have located the missing Mary there and informing each suspect that she will meet him at his suite. He hopes innocent suspects head to the suite while the killer goes to the apartment to silence Mary. The ruse pits everyone against each other and escalates danger.

The killer arrives in disguise, threatening Dal and Donna and triggering a dangerous confrontation. Dal and Inspector Doremus manage to subdue the culprit, preventing further harm. The dramatic confrontation brings the truth closer to light.

The culprit is revealed to be Robert Classon, Jerry's husband. The motive is rooted in a web of affairs: Jerry had connections with both the Chicago murder victim and her killer, and Classon aimed to silence Alice to protect his own interests. The revelation exposes a calculated plot to frame others and remove a threat.

Alice had fled Chicago to avoid testifying, driven by fear and guilt. She hated the man who ruined her father, which helped explain why Classon wanted to silence her. Her flight links the original disappearance to the later murder case and Classon's desperate measures.

With the case wrapped up, Dal marries Donna Mantin, blending personal happiness with professional triumph. The resolution ties off the tangled relationships and returns the couple to a new life in New York. The story closes on a note of romance amid the remaining questions about the past.