On Chinese New Year in 1938, Crystal Shackleford lures two strangers to her London flat—Jerome K. Arbutny, a smooth solicitor, and Johnny West, a charming, erudite drunkard—with a curious plan: three people and a single Grand National sweepstakes ticket. If the ticket lands in their hands, they will not sell it; they will hold onto it until the race is run, hoping that money can remake their futures. Each of them secretly hopes the windfall will help them achieve a personal dream: Crystal wants to win back her estranged husband, Arbutny hopes the money will smooth the way for his selection to the prestigious Barrister’s Club, and Johnny dreams of buying a bar and starting anew.
As the story unfolds, we learn how the lives of these three strangers begin to diverge and collide. Crystal’s husband, David Shackleford, has moved to Canada and fallen in love with Janet Elliott. He returns just after Johnny and Arbutny have left Crystal’s side, and demands a divorce. Crystal refuses, and she works to undermine him at work, sabotaging his promotion. She also lies to Janet, telling her that David still loves her and that she is pregnant, a cruel fabrication that drives Janet back to Canada.
Meanwhile, Johnny’s past shadows him. He has been hiding after a botched robbery that ended with a policeman’s death. An ally, Icey Crane, helps him by providing an alibi through perjury, while a second witness is discredited. The truth comes out: the ringleader, Bertram Fallon, is implicated, and Johnny is condemned to death. In a twist, Gabby Delaney, another participant, kills Fallon as he heads to prison, and Fallon’s dying confession to the crowd clears Johnny of the murder.
Arbutny’s fortunes also falter. He has been trading on stocks with money siphoned from Lady Rhea Belladon’s trust, and when the stock market dips and his margin is called, Lady Belladon rebuffs him after consulting with her dead husband. A note of looming despair hangs over him as he discovers that the sweepstakes ticket might be drawn in his favor after all.
Back at Crystal’s flat, the three strangers converge again. Arbutny argues for selling his share of the ticket immediately to cover his losses, while Johnny is more inclined to keep to their original pact. Crystal, stubborn and determined, refuses to break the agreement. In a moment of rage, Arbutny inadvertently kills Crystal with a statue of Kwan Yin, a cruel irony given their superstition about wishes. Then the radio confirms that the Grand National winner has been drawn.
The trio faces a troubling dilemma: destroying the ticket would erase their motive for Crystal’s murder and expose them all. They leave the flat, but guilt gnaws at Arbutny, who bolts into the busy street and stops traffic while confessing to the murder in front of a crowd and a policeman. David Shackleford arrives later, intending to shoot Crystal for driving Janet away, only to discover that she is already dead. Johnny returns to the pub, where Icey finds him, and, as a final act of defiance or resignation, he sets the winning ticket on fire, sealing their fates.
