Three Strangers

On Chinese New Year 1938, Crystal Shackleford invites two strangers, solicitor Jerome Arbutny and Johnny West, to her London flat. She believes that if the three of them make the same wish to the idol Kwan Yin, the wish will be granted. They pool money to buy a Grand National sweepstakes ticket and agree not to sell it if it is drawn, intending to hold onto it until the race. Each has a personal motive for wanting the winnings.

David Shackleford, Crystal's husband, has moved to Canada and returns just after the meeting, demanding a divorce. Crystal refuses and even schemes to derail his career promotion. She also lies to Janet Elliott, telling her that David still loves her and that she is pregnant, steering Janet back to Canada. The web of personal vendettas begins to entangle the trio.

Johnny West has been hiding after a drunken participation in a botched robbery that resulted in a policeman's death. Icey Crane helps by committing perjury to provide an alibi for the ringleader, Bertram Fallon. The tangled alibis become a weapon in the looming confrontation, while the trio remains under scrutiny.

With a second witness discredited, Fallon confesses to the robbery but blames the murder on West and Gabby Delaney. The confession tightens the net around Johnny as investigators tighten their case. The truth about the murder grows murkier as loyalties shift.

Johnny West is arrested and sentenced to death for the murder. Gabby Delaney discovers Fallon on his way to prison and stabs him, dying as Fallon dies in a railway carriage, thereby clearing Johnny of the murder.

Arbutny operates with money from Lady Belladon's eccentric trust fund, gambling on stock speculation. When his margin call arrives, Lady Belladon refuses his overture to procure funds and hints that Lord Belladon wants the books checked. The threat of exposure deepens Arbutny's precarious situation.

Desperate, Arbutny contemplates shooting himself after seeing the margin calls. A newspaper headline reveals that their Grand National sweepstakes ticket has been drawn, jolting him with a possible path to escape punishment. The revelation transforms his plan from self-destruction to preservation of the ticket.

The three strangers converge back on Crystal's flat. Arbutny wants to sell his share to cover his crime; Johnny is willing to sell; Shackleford remains adamant that they keep the agreement intact. Tensions rise as the plan to safeguard the ticket becomes the flashpoint for conflict.

In a fit of rage, Arbutny accidentally kills Crystal Shackleford with her statue of Kwan Yin during the confrontation. The murder instantly intertwines their fates with the fate of the sweepstakes ticket. The group faces the gravity of what their plan has unleashed.

Moments after Crystal's death, the radio announces that the Grand National winner has been drawn in their ticket. The outcome would have resolved the fate of the ticket, but the murder complicates the intent to claim or destroy it. The discovery fuels the urgency to manage the ticket's fate.

Johnny points out that destroying the winning ticket would erase their motive to murder Crystal and could expose their crime. They decide to leave the flat and consider destroying the ticket to avoid being implicated. The tension between loyalty and self-preservation heightens.

Arbutny panics and stops traffic to confess to the murder in the middle of a busy London street. David Shackleford arrives intending to shoot Crystal for causing Janet's departure but, upon discovering she is already dead, leaves shaken. The street confession cements the unraveling of their plans.

Johnny goes back to the pub, where Icey Crane finds him. He sets the Grand National ticket on fire, ending any possibility of using the winnings to escape punishment. The film closes on a note of burned fate and ruined plans.