The Falcon and the Co-Eds

Jane Harris, a student at Bluecliff Seminary for Girls, asks Tom Lawrence, the Falcon, to investigate a death that Marguerita Serena foresees. Marguerita is an unstable clairvoyant who believes danger surrounds Professor Jamison's death. The Falcon agrees to look into the case, posing as an insurance investigator.

Posing as an insurance investigator, the Falcon meets Dean Miss Keyes and the school’s psychology, drama, and music teachers. He learns that Professor Jamison’s death is officially unclear—suicide or homicide—creating a prime lead for suspects. Inspector Donovan and Detective Bates are also reviewing the coroner’s verdict.

The Falcon visits Jamison’s room and learns that the undertaker believes Jamison took an overdose of sleeping pills in a suicide. The investigator, however, suspects murder and begins to map potential motives among those linked to the professor. The seeds of a more complex plot are planted.

A group of suspects forms around the case, including Marguerita who fears her father's insanity, and a love triangle among Graelich, Mary Phoebus, and Vicky Gaines. The Falcon starts quietly watching these figures, looking for inconsistencies and hidden motives. Tensions rise as relationships become more entangled.

Before the Falcon can confront the killer, Dean Keyes is found murdered, turning the investigation from suspicion to a chase for a murderer among the staff. The new death links to the suspicions surrounding the Jamison case and the school’s internal politics. The Falcon intensifies his surveillance of the remaining suspects.

Marguerita Serena tells Mary Phoebus that she witnessed her standing over Miss Keyes’s dead body, escalating fear and shame within the school. The accusation compounds the fragility of the group and complicates the Falcon’s investigation. He notes this as a potential leverage point among the suspects.

Mary confronts Marguerita at the cliffs, attempting to push her off the precipice while Marguerita remains hysterical. Tom arrives just in time to intervene, and Mary, startled, topples to her death. The cliff incident removes one suspect but leaves a larger mystery about who orchestrated the killings.

With Mary Phoebus dead, it becomes clear that she was behind all the murders, beginning with Jamison’s death in jealousy and extending to the Dean’s murder to shield her secret marriage to Graelich. The Falcon connects the dots between love, ambition, and the lethal chain of events. The school’s façade of propriety collapses as the truth comes to light.

Evidence suggests Jamison’s death was driven by Mary’s jealousy, tying the earlier incidents to her personal motives. The Falcon links the romantic entanglements and power dynamics at the seminary to the succession of deaths. The net tightens around the remaining suspects.

The Dean’s death appears tied to Mary’s plan to protect Graelich from dismissal so their secret marriage would stay hidden. The Falcon reconstructs how Mary used others’ loyalties and the faculty's rules to mask her scheme. The case at the seminary moves toward a decisive confrontation.

The Falcon reveals Mary Phoebus as the mastermind behind the string of murders, exposing her manipulation and the tragic consequences. The school’s structure and relationships crumble under the truth. At the end, Jane’s mother arrives with another actress and asks the Falcon to solve a murder at the theater, signaling a new mystery beyond the campus.

With the seminary case resolved for now, the Falcon is asked to solve a murder at the theater by Jane Harris’s famous actress mother and her companion. The film closes on this cliffhanger, suggesting the Falcon’s work continues beyond the school. The theater murder promises a fresh set of clues and motives.