Sleuth Gay Lawrence, known to fans as “The Falcon,” arrives at the dock with his quick-witted assistant Lefty to meet a Latin American cruise liner. On board, Gay learns that his brother, Tom Lawrence, is officially listed as dead—ruled a suicide by homicide inspector Timothy Donovan. Diane Medford, Tom’s shipboard companion, offers sympathy, but Gay deduces that the body in the cabin is not his brother. He keeps a watchful eye as Lefty tails Diane, sensing there is more beneath the surface than the outward condolences imply.
The pursuit leads to a fashionable showdown at the salon of Arlette, a glamorous owner whose world revolves around style. Diane is tracked to a fashion show where she’s greeted by her fiancé, Paul Harrington, a sharp-eyed fashion editor. The scene is crowded with two Latin American dancers, Valdez and Carmela, whose presence seems innocent enough but hints at a tangled web of loyalties. A chance encounter brings the Falcon into contact with Marcia Brooks, a reporter who recognizes him and follows the trail as he slips into Diane’s office. Suddenly, a gunshot shatters the moment, and Diane falls dead. In the confusion, the Falcon races into a back alley and unexpectedly comes face to face with his living brother, Tom, who has been unmasked long enough to complicate the case.
Inspector Donovan wastes no time in taking charge, and Lefty is arrested while the Falcon is knocked off his feet by a speeding car. Tom rushes to his unconscious brother and carries him to his apartment, where Marcia presses for answers about the murder. Lefty’s fate takes a turn for the better when he’s released on a suspended sentence, and he learns that his boss will recover soon enough. Marcia informs Tom that the murder weapon is missing, prompting Tom to revisit Arlette’s salon and dig deeper into the mystery.
Tom’s hunch leads him to Arlette’s nightclub, where he confronts Arlette and learns that the police have the gun’s serial number. Arlette calls Donovan and reluctantly reveals Tom’s location, throwing him back into the inspector’s net. Tom and Lefty search Arlette’s for the missing weapon and uncover it hidden inside a mannequin. Donovan closes in again at the salon, arresting Tom for false impersonation after Tom identifies himself and the misunderstanding about his supposed death is revealed. Once Tom proves his true identity, he’s freed and directs Marcia to focus on Harrington’s photographer, Savitski.
The investigation widens as Tom confronts Arlette with the gun, forcing her to admit she hid it to shield Harrington, who is later exonerated by a ballistics expert. Marcia discovers Savitski is an illegal alien, a revelation that raises the stakes. Savitski’s sudden death—after he smokes a cigar and seems prepared to reveal a crucial clue about the series of murders—leaves a chilling clue: a pile of magazines lies where he fell. Tom deduces that Savitski was poisoned with a cigar in the same manner as the shipboard suicide.
With Savitski dead, Tom urges Lefty to impersonate the photographer as Valdez and Carmela enter Tom’s office with guns drawn. Tom steps from the shadows, and the two intruders reveal themselves as Mexican counter-espionage agents who explain that Diane was killed because she knew too much. Tom notifies Donovan about Savitski’s murder, and the authorities bring the photographer’s magazines back into play. A growing suspicion falls on Harrington, and the magazine covers become crucial clues: one dated December 7 prophesies the Pearl Harbor attack, while another hints at a planned incident at a Long Island inn.
Tom and Marcia speed toward the danger, determined to avert disaster, while The Falcon joins Lefty on a tense journey to Long Island where German agents are preparing for an attack—with Harrington among them. The situation escalates when Tom and Marcia are captured and locked in a bell tower as the agents move forward with their plan to assassinate a Latin American envoy during his aircraft’s arrival. Tom manages to ring the bell just as his brother Gay Lawrence resurfaces and steps in front of the diplomat, sacrificing himself to protect an ally. With the spy ring exposed and the threat neutralized, Tom takes up the mantle where his brother left off, becoming the new Falcon and continuing the fight for justice.
