| Director | Rudolph Maté |
|---|---|
| Genre | crime film, drama film, film noir, thriller film |
| Runtime | 81 min |
| Country | United States |
| Box office | $1.4 million |
At Chicago Union Station, Police Lieutenant William "Bill" Calhoun is approached by an apprehensive passenger named Joyce Willecombe, who believes that two men aboard her train may be up to no good.
The two men deposit a suitcase in a storage locker. When Bill retrieves it, Joyce recognizes the clothing as belonging to Lorna Murchison, the blind daughter of wealthy Henry Murchison, Joyce's employer. When Mr. Murchison is brought in, he admits Lorna has been kidnapped and held for ransom, but does not want the police to get involved as they might endanger his daughter's life. Bill and his boss, Inspector Donnelly, persuade him to accept their help. The railway station where Calhoun works has been chosen as the location to pay off the ransom.
When the kidnappers make contact with Murchison at the station, Joyce recognizes them. The police trail one of them, Gus Hadder, but he spots them and flees, only to be accidentally run over in the trainyard. The police withhold his death from the press to leave the remaining kidnappers in the dark. Later, Joyce spots Joe Beacom, the leader of the gang, and sees a third member, Vince Marley.
Before Beacom can drive away Joyce memorizes the license plate number, and the police arrest Marley. When he refuses to talk, Donnelly cunningly tells Bill to make his death look accidental. Just as the police appear ready to throw him in front of an arriving train, he falls for the ruse, cracks, and spills all. By the time the authorities get to the kidnappers' hideout they have fled.
When a keen-eyed patrolman spots Beacom's car, a gunfight breaks out. The policeman is killed, and Beacom's moll, Marge, is caught in the crossfire. From a hospital deathbed she tells Bill and Donnelly that Beacom intends to kill Lorna after he gets the ransom. She also reveals that Beacom used to work at the station.
Beacom secrets Lorna in the municipal tunnel underneath Union Station, where he used to play (and commit petty crimes) as a boy. The payoff upstairs at the Station goes off without a hitch, with Beacom using a commercial messenger boy the pick up the ransom. Beacom, dressed as a conductor, forces a parcel clerk to accept the suitcase with the money and switch it with a decoy bag. As the messenger leaves with the decoy, Joyce recognizes part of Lorna's coat sticking out of it.
Beacom retreats to the municipal tunnel, and Bill is shot in the shoulder trying to apprehend him. Bill guns Beacom down and rescues Lorna. In the aftermath, Joyce (who has developed an attraction to Bill, and vice versa) tends Bill's wound.