A district attorney tries to frame an innocent girl for the murder he committed.
Richard Grant, a lawyer who served as District Attorney of New York for ten years, believes that murder is justifiable under certain circumstances. Richard's daughter Barbara, who adores her father, takes him to an island off the Atlantic coast, where they will be the guests of the wealthy playboy Gordon Rich. Upon their arrival, Gordon, an old friend and former client of Richard's, tells the lawyer that he wants to change his will because he is about to be married. When Richard learns that Gordon plans to wed his daughter, he objects to it and reminds the roué that he knows all about the "accident" many years ago in which a former bride of his fell to her death from a high-rise balcony. Because he fears for his daughter's safety, Richard warns Gordon that he will kill him before he sees him marry Barbara. Later, Gordon forces Barbara to reject the affections of Tommy, a young man who is in love with her. Richard's attempt to convince his daughter of Gordon's unsuitability proves useless. At Gordon's dinner party, his engagement to Barbara is announced, and Marjorie West, Gordon's secret lover, shows her displeasure at the news. Later that night, the suspicious Gordon orders two of his servants to follow Richard, and instructs them to report to him if he leaves his room. Gordon then writes a note to the police in which he names Richard as his murderer in the event that he is found dead. Richard manages leave his room undetected and then sneaks into Gordon's study, shoots him, and makes it appear as if the host committed suicide. Marjorie screams when she discovers the body and immediately insists that Gordon was murdered. After Richard tells Barbara that Gordon may have killed himself because he couldn't live with the shame of having wronged so many women, he is shocked when she tells him that she decided not to marry him prior to his death. Richard tries to pin the murder on Marjorie, but she discovers the imprint of Gordon's note to the police on his desk blotter, as well as the props Richard used to make it appear as if he were still in his room during the murder. Once Richard realizes that Marjorie has enough evidence to prove his guilt, he tries to blackmail her to keep silent. No sooner does Richard convince her that he could frame her for the murder if he wanted, than the police, tipped-off by Gordon's boatman, who found his boss's note, arrive and examine the body. Gordon's hand, which has been frozen in a state of rigor mortis since his murder, with his finger on a gun trigger, suddenly moves, and the gun fires, killing Richard. Marjorie, who was about to accuse Richard of murdering Gordon, observes how happy Barbara is with Tommy and decides not to tell anyone the truth about Gordon's murder.
