An Englishwoman who writes novels meets a farmer who has just killed his nagging wife.
Undercover agent Robert Leyland entraps crooks trying to sneak expensive goods past customs on transatlantic crossings. After Leyland falls for reluctant smuggler Barbara Standish, he convinces her to return with him to France with her cache of diamonds. But she is unaware of a network of thieves onboard their ship, competing against each other to make off with her jewels.
A young riveter working high up on a steel girder watches a girl practising a tap-dance in a building opposite, and while applauding her, he loses his balance and falls.