Barbara Lawry (Donna Reed) has been dating a theatrical has-been, Paul Gerente (John Emery), much to the displeasure of his former lover Norma (Ann Harding) who just happens to be Barbara's step-mother. When Gerente turns up murdered, Barbara assumes that a jealous mother is to blame. Blind detective Captain Duncan McClain (Edward Arnold) is called in by Norma to help clear her of the murder and he finds that things are never as they seem.