Just before the scheduled electrocution of stockbroker Kenneth Avery for the murder of Mazie Lawrence, Nan Perry makes one last plea to the governor for a stay of execution and relates the incidents that led to Mazie's death: Maneuvering Kenneth to his apartment, Mazie gives him every opportunity to alleviate her unhappiness with her husband, but he refuses to succumb to her advances. Nan and Shannon, Kenneth's lawyer and rival, enter; there is a shot and a scream; and Mazie is dead. Believing Kenneth guilty, Nan testifies against him at the trial. Back in the present, the governor refuses her plea, but a prison break interrupts Kenneth's execution and results in a fatal wound to Shannon, who, dying, confesses to Mazie's murder.