***SPOILERS*** This turned out to be a very strange and baffling case for Federated Insurance investigator Sam Donovan, Dennis O'Keefe,to crack. The dead man Mr. Phillips supposedly shot himself with a German luger but the gun bullets as well as death certificate were nowhere to be found! In fact even the dead man's body seemed to have disappeared with the police pathologist and local morgue director having no idea where he went!
It becomes very obvious to Donovan that not only was Phillips murdered but the entire town from Sheriff Larry Best, William Bendix,on down were covering up his murder and even more shocking who was Mr. Phillips killer! As it soon turns out Phillips was without a doubt the most disliked person in Cleberg and everyone in town had a motive to kill him but the big question in Donovan's mind is who! It's in fact the luger that killed Phillips that soon appears out of the blue in Stu Weatherby's, Art Baker, house that sets off alarm bells to who exactly murdered Phillips! Found by Weatherby's daughter and Mr.Donovan's now girlfriend Anita, Barbara Britton, it makes it look like her father was in fact Phillips killer with Anita trying to hide the evidence to have him arrested and booked for it.
It soon comes out that the luger was in fact in the possession of a Doctor P.L Garrow a good friend of Stu Weatherby who gave it to him as a Christmas present just weeks before Phillips was found shot to death! Dr. Garrow being the most beloved and respected person in Cleberg is the last person anyone could suspect in murdering Phillips,the most hated person in town, but something very strange happens before Donovan could interview him! Dr. Garrow suddenly drops dead of a heart attack which makes his sudden and unexpected death, like that of Phillips suicide, very suspect to say the least!
***SPOILERS*** The end of the film ties all the loose ends together with both killer and victim never being seen as much as a second on screen even though they, at least Mr. Phillips, were the most most talked about persons in the movie. What happened to Phillips and who was in fact responsible for his death was kept from seeing the light of day in that by bringing it out in the open it would end up hurting far more people then it would help. And as for Phillips killer he was in no position to face justice in a court of law since he now was far far beyond it!
It becomes very obvious to Donovan that not only was Phillips murdered but the entire town from Sheriff Larry Best, William Bendix,on down were covering up his murder and even more shocking who was Mr. Phillips killer! As it soon turns out Phillips was without a doubt the most disliked person in Cleberg and everyone in town had a motive to kill him but the big question in Donovan's mind is who! It's in fact the luger that killed Phillips that soon appears out of the blue in Stu Weatherby's, Art Baker, house that sets off alarm bells to who exactly murdered Phillips! Found by Weatherby's daughter and Mr.Donovan's now girlfriend Anita, Barbara Britton, it makes it look like her father was in fact Phillips killer with Anita trying to hide the evidence to have him arrested and booked for it.
It soon comes out that the luger was in fact in the possession of a Doctor P.L Garrow a good friend of Stu Weatherby who gave it to him as a Christmas present just weeks before Phillips was found shot to death! Dr. Garrow being the most beloved and respected person in Cleberg is the last person anyone could suspect in murdering Phillips,the most hated person in town, but something very strange happens before Donovan could interview him! Dr. Garrow suddenly drops dead of a heart attack which makes his sudden and unexpected death, like that of Phillips suicide, very suspect to say the least!
***SPOILERS*** The end of the film ties all the loose ends together with both killer and victim never being seen as much as a second on screen even though they, at least Mr. Phillips, were the most most talked about persons in the movie. What happened to Phillips and who was in fact responsible for his death was kept from seeing the light of day in that by bringing it out in the open it would end up hurting far more people then it would help. And as for Phillips killer he was in no position to face justice in a court of law since he now was far far beyond it!