Summaries

Synopsis

All of this action in this murder mystery occurs one night at the Black Raven, a hotel in United States near the Canadian border. Mr. Amos Bradford is the proprietor, and runs the hotel with his assistant Andy.

Andy leaves to take care of something in the heavy thunderstorm going on outside. An escaped convict Mr. Whitey Cole enters the hotel, and points a gun at Bradford in the main hotel lobby. The two were partners, but now Cole feels he was double-crossed by Bradford. Cole escaped prison, with ten years left on his sentence, to exact revenge on Bradford. Andy returns from outside, and together, Bradford and Andy subdue Cole, take away his gun, and tie him up in the office.

One by one, guests arrive. Mr. Mike Bardoni enters the lobby and rings for service. Bardoni shows a newspaper indicating that he is a racketeer wanted by the police, and heard that Bradford, aka "The Raven", might be able to sneak him across to Canada. Mike claims he was set up by Mr. Tim Winfield, who recently took over as his boss at an organized crime organization and got Mike in trouble with the law. Mike feels he needs to lie low in Canada for awhile. Bradford agrees to help him get to Canada, but to stay at the hotel until the storm wanes. Mike agrees, and signs the hotel registry as "John Smith".

Mr. Horace Weatherby drives up, learns that the bridge is washed out, and turns around to stay at the Black Raven until the storm subsides. Weatherby enters with a satchel clutched closely to his chest. Weatherby places the satchel on the desk, signs in, and tells Bradford he is going to Canada for vacation. Bardoni accidentally knocks over the satchel to the floor, which pops open to expose bundles of cash. Bardoni sees the cash, and apologizes to Horace.

A young couple in another car also turn around. Miss Lee Winfield, the daughter of Mr. Tim Winfield, and her fiance Allen Bentley, arrive to the hotel and sign in. Her father had enough political influence to prevent them from obtaining a marriage license here, so they intend to get married in Canada instead.

Bradford now offers to have Andy sneak Mike across the border, but Mike decides to stay at the hotel a bit longer, intrigued by the bundles of cash in the satchel, and the unexpected presence of his boss's daughter. Bradford leads Horace, Lee and Frank upstairs to their three separate rooms.

Mr. Tim Winfield arrives to the hotel lobby. His car ran into a ditch, and he walked half a mile. Mike recognizes his boss, and accuses that he followed Mike to the hotel. Tim says that Mike is of no concern to him, and there is nobody the crime organization can't survive without.

Bradford returns from upstairs, and recognizes Tim in the lobby. Bradford claims he had done business with Tim "indirectly". Tim does not know what he is talking about. Bradford goes to his office to find Cole had escaped, and the window wide open. Bradford asks Andy to search the entire hotel looking for Cole.

Allen descends the staircase. Tim warns him that Allen may not marry his daughter, and he won't let Allen go to Canada to marry her there either. Lee is under 21 years of age, so Tim calls the police to accuse Allen of "kidnapping" his daughter, but the phone is dead midway through the conversation. Tim takes his daughter upstairs and locks her in her room.

Cole is seen outside of Horace's window. Horace hears noises outside, puts the money back into the satchel and cries for help. Tim comes to help, and then recognizes Horace as the bank cashier who embezzled $50,000 dollars. Tim insists Horace give him the money to avoid standing trial. Tim leaves Horace's room with the satchel and big smile on his face.

Armed with a baseball bat, Andy goes looking for Cole in the basement. Bradford comes down to help, finds the basement window open, and large footsteps outside. He locks the window to keep Cole out.

Andy runs downstairs, yelling that he had found a dead body in the storage room. Bradford and Allen run up with Andy to investigate. It is Tim, killed by a blow to the head. Lee hears the commotion and requests to be let out of her locked room. Bradford unlocks the door, and Lee runs to see that her father is in fact dead. Lee is crying in Allen's arms. Horace joins the group to inquire what is going on.

Bradford returns to his office, only to find Mike holding a gun. Mike had seen the money in Horace's satchel, and had overheard Tim taking it away from Horace upstairs. Now Mike wants to know where the money is. Bradford doesn't know where the money is, perhaps Allen took it as an early "wedding present".

The Sheriff arrives. He claims that there was an attempt to call to the police about a kidnapping. Bradford explains that Tim had called the police, but is now dead. Bradford leads the Sheriff upstairs to see the body. Sheriff instructs all the others to remain in the lobby until questioned.

Realizing that Tim is an important person, the Sheriff feels he needs to arrest someone for the murder. Sheriff wants to talk to Andy who was the first to find the dead body.

Afraid of being arrested for this crime, Andy pleads to the Sheriff that he has no reason for murder, but that Tim had an argument with Allen about the wedding and kidnapping, and therefore should be suspect. Lee explains to the Sheriff that her father was simply opposed to their wedding, it was not a case of kidnapping.

Horace asks Andy for the keys to his car. Horace wants to leave the hotel as soon as possible. Andy refuses, citing Bradford's orders not to let anyone leave during the investigation.

Sheriff is ready to arrest Allen, but Bradford feels Andy is too young and innocent-looking to be the murderer, and suggests the Sheriff keep looking. Lee holds the Sheriff back to let Andy run away. Andy hides in the basement.

Mike approaches Horace and Andy, and asks where the money is. Mike is convinced the money is hidden somewhere in the hotel. Mike holds them at gunpoint and locks them both in the basement.

Bradford goes to the storage room to investigate the crime scene. He finds the window slightly open, and fresh blood on a small foot stool.

The Sheriff runs outdoors looking for Andy, but encounters Cole. They wrestle, Cole knocks the Sheriff out, and takes his gun. Cole comes back indoors, unable to find anyone downstairs.

Mike ties Bradford and Lee up in chairs of her room upstairs while he searches for the money. The Sheriff awakens. Returning to the hotel, he finds basement locked. He unlocks the room, finds Andy, Horace and Allen. He arrests Allen. Bradford manages to break free, and unties himself and Lee.

A gunshot is heard, and everyone rushes to the downstairs lobby. Bradford asks Andy to investigate the office, and Andy finds Mike dead on the floor, the office window again wide open.

The Sheriff was with Allen when the gunshot was heard, so agrees that neither Allen, Horace or Andy committed this second murder. Horace asks Bradford for the keys to his car, and Bradford agrees to let him leave.

Bradford waits outside, and sees Horace retrieve the satchel of money from outside the storage room window sill. Bradford confronts Horace, accusing him of murdering Tim. Cole is in the bushes, and shoots Bradford. Bradford is injured, but manages to shoot Cole dead.

Hearing more gunshots, the Sheriff and others run outside. Bradford explains to everyone that Horace killed Tim. Horace admits he hit Tim over the head with the foot stool to get his money back, intending only to knock him out. The death was an accident. Horace also admits he threw the satchel outside the window of the storage room, intending to retrieve it when he left the hotel. T

Bradford also explains that Cole was the other murderer, but Cole killed Mike instead by mistaken identity. The Sheriff releases Allen, and arrests Horace for the first murder.

Bradford collapses from the gunshot wound. In his last breaths, Bradford wishes Lee and Allen a happy marriage.