The Argyle Secrets

A voice-over by reporter Harry Mitchell questions how a string of sinister events could unfold in just one day. The sequence slides into a stark montage of sinister faces while the question lingers. It dissolves to Mitchell typing his thoughts, foreshadowing the coming investigation.

Pierce is admitted to the hospital after promising to share the Argyle Album. He suddenly grows ill and dies, a scalpel found lodged in his chest suggesting foul play. Mitchell tells Lt. Sampson that the blade could not have killed a dying man, hinting that the murders are connected to the album.

Mitchell returns to Pierce’s room with the doctor and staff, only to learn that Pinky the photographer had never left the room. A nurse reveals Pinky’s body is hidden behind a screen, and in the ensuing confusion Mitchell makes a quick exit. The murders begin to close in as the investigation widens.

Mitchell knocks Elizabeth Court unconscious while searching for the Argyle Album. He finds Pierce’s address book and mails a photostat of the album cover to himself. A heavy, panama-hatted man armed with a swordstick bursts in; Mitchell overpowers him and locks him in a closet as Elizabeth is bound and gagged.

As he escapes Elizabeth Court’s apartment, a second woman claims to be a friend of Elizabeth and lets him go. He hides in a friend’s vacant apartment to regroup and avoid capture. The shadow of pursuit grows thicker as he plans his next move.

Marla tracks Mitchell to the friend's apartment, revealing his face is in the newspapers and offering money for the Argyle Album. Mitchell says he doesn't know what the album is, prompting Marla to summon three sinister men—Winter, Hobrey, and Scanlon—to close in. Marla then lets Mitchell escape by letting him choke her, after which he kisses her and slips away.

Mitchell uses the fire escape to reach the Rubins' apartment, where Mrs. Rubin helps him clean up from the ordeal. He hides there briefly while the pursuers search elsewhere. He contemplates his next move in the escalating Argyle Album mystery.

He travels to a rundown Wooster Street shop where Joe McBrod holds the album as Pierce’s contact. McBrod pulls a gun on him, but Panama Archie intervenes and shoots McBrod. McBrod barely survives to shoot Panama, then collapses without revealing where the album is.

Lt. Sampson explains that Pierce died of poisoning, not the scalpel, and that Pinky was killed by a different scalpel that cut across the investigation. The connection to the Argyle Album remains unclear, and Sampson suggests Mitchell may be involved, though they still shadow him. The case tightens as the mystery deepens.

Mitchell goes to meet Marla at her hotel and forces her to outline McBrod's connections and the role of Panama. Her details are inconsistent, but she hints that Winter's gang does not know the location of the album and that Panama may be working for someone else. The pursuit grows more tangled as tempers flare.

Mitchell intercepts a phone call from Winter at Scanlon's apartment, then returns to McBrod's shop where Winter and Hobrey lie in wait. Hobrey shoots Mitchell, who takes refuge in a locked storage area. Winter prepares to burn him out, unaware that Mitchell has anticipated the double-cross.

From his hiding place, Mitchell declares that two 'big shots' named in the album are chasing it. One is Pierce's doctor and Panama working for him; the other is the man posing as the real Winter. The tension tightens as the mastermind behind the scheme remains elusive.

In a tense exchange, Winter shoots Hobrey, but Hobrey fatally shoots Winter before he collapses. The shifting loyalties and double-crosses leave the true mastermind even more obscured. The Argyle Album remains the coveted prize as the pursuit continues.

McBrod had mailed the Argyle Album to Pierce, whose secretary Elizabeth Court now has it. Mitchell travels to the airport to acquire a briefcase containing the album, paying Court five hundred dollars for it. The exchange tightens the knot of deception surrounding the album.

At the airport, Court appears with the album in a briefcase, and Marla follows. Mitchell explains his obligation to Pierce to reveal the album’s revelations publicly. He hands the briefcase to Lt. Sampson, who has been watching, but Sampson returns it to Mitchell as Marla leaves, and the protagonist walks away with the truth still in motion.