The Woman on Pier 13

Brad Collins, a San Francisco shipping executive, marries Nan Lowry after a whirlwind week. During their honeymoon in the Bay Area they unexpectedly meet Christine Norman, Brad's old flame, whom Nan immediately dislikes. The encounter foreshadows the personal and political tensions that will threaten their marriage.

As a respected shipping executive with experience on both sides of the trade, Brad becomes a prime target for a Communist cell led by Vanning. The cell orders him to sabotage labor negotiations in the Bay Area shipping industry and threatens to reveal his past identity, Frank Johnson, to force his compliance. The stakes are raised as Vanning underscores that there is no easy way out of the party.

Christine is ordered to draw close to Don Lowry, Brad's impressionable brother-in-law, and indoctrinate him with Communist propaganda. She begins the assignment but grows increasingly entangled with Lowry as his views shift. The plan hinges on controlling her emotions, even as she becomes emotionally involved.

Christine confesses her feelings to Lowry and counters his rejection by showing him a photograph of her with Brad and a copy of Brad's party membership card under the name Frank Johnson. The revelation complicates Lowry's stance and tests their loyalties. Vanning warns her to suppress her emotions, but her attachment deepens.

Vanning interrupts the moment, brusquely pressing Lowry and ordering the murder of Don Lowry by a contract killer to preserve the secrecy of the operation. The order demonstrates the brutal reach of the Communist conspiracy. The stage is set for a violent escalation.

Lowry goes to the Collins residence to warn them of what he has learned, but is run down by a car driven by hit man Bailey. Nan, informed earlier by Christine that her brother is in danger, starts to doubt that Lowry's death was an accident. The tragedy confirms the seriousness of the plot.

Nan confronts Christine and learns of her husband's past, including that Bailey was responsible for Lowry's death. Christine attempts to justify herself but is confronted with Nan's mounting resolve. The revelation tightens the noose of secrecy around the conspirators.

Preparing a suicide note to explain her involvement, Christine is interrupted by Vanning. He destroys her confession of Communist involvement and has her thrown out of the window of her high-rise apartment. Christine dies in the fall, a punitive blow for breaking orders.

Nan turns detective, disguising herself as a killer-for-hire to eliminate her husband Brad. Her ruse is foiled, and she is abducted and taken to the Communist headquarters on the waterfront. The abduction escalates the danger and brings Nan face-to-face with the conspirators.

Brad tracks his wife down and forces his way into the headquarters. In a climactic shootout Bailey and Vanning are killed, but Brad is fatally wounded. In his final moments he remarks that Travers would have been the right man for Nan.

Brad dies in Nan's arms, reaffirming the personal cost of political coercion. Nan, grieving but resolute, accepts the loss and the uncertain future it leaves her with. Travers’ name lingers as a possibility Brad mentions in his last moments.