 With a solution of the airmail mystery near at hand, the life of Jimmy Gifford, roving newspaper reporter, is endangered by mail thieves. Gifford is being held captive by the criminal ring responsible for the wrecking and robbing of trans-American Airlines' fastest airmail planes. Irene Delroy and Sergeant Fitzgerald of the Department of Justice have just discovered Gifford's abandoned plane on the rim of Devil's Canyon, the scene of the robberies, and are discussing means of saving the reporter's life. Andy Andrews, cracked pilot for the airline, is attending one of the mail thieves who was mysteriously shot while confessing his part in the robberies and imparting the knowledge of Gifford's danger. The shot went high, ma'am. Give me a hand, Sergeant. We'll try to stop this bleeding. Ah, we ought to let that rat die. Give Andrews a hand, please. Yes, ma'am. Let's prop him up against this rock, Sergeant. There. Hey, I'll get his shirt off. Hey, that's not bad. About four inches too high. Lucky break for him, Fitz. Ah, I don't know. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes. Here's some water, see if you can get him to talk. Here you go. Hold him up, Andrews. Here. He's coming around all right, ma'am. His eyes are opening. Good. See if you can get him to tell you how many men are holding Jimmy. Yes, ma'am. Hey, how do you feel? Come on, sit up. Oh. Is... is it bad? Ah, they plugged you right under the shoulder. Who done it? It was the boss. Oh. Am I going to die? No, a little plug like that ain't going to kill you. Come on, come on, snap out of it. Where's Gifford? They got him. They got him where? Come on, answer me. Oh, don't shake my arm. Oh. You give me an answer or I'll leave you laying out here. Where's Gifford being held? In the vine at the ranch. How many men are back there at the ranch? Four. Oh. You're not going to let him get me again, are you? You'll get them away from me, won't you? Yes, we'll keep them away from you. Are they armed? Yes, they're desperate. They'll do anything. Jenkins is afraid you'll know who he is. Gifford saw him. It'll go hard with him. How far is it at the ranch? About 20 miles. Do they keep their plane there? Yes, it's in a fake hangar. You can't see it from the air. It's all set for the getaway there. They're going to Mexico. Getaway when? Sometime today, ma'am. Let them go. They're poisoned. Jenkins will kill me if I... Jenkins isn't going to kill you, not if you help us out. You say he has 20 miles to the hangar? Yes, ma'am. Just behind that range of hills over there. Oh. I can't use his arm. The only way to get over there is in the ship, ma'am. That's just what I was thinking, Andrews, but it won't do. Why not, ma'am? Because they'll see us if we get anywhere near there. Yeah. Yeah, and they'd hear the motor and get away before we could land. Not only that, but I'm afraid to think what they'll do to Jimmy to keep him from talking. They'll kill him, ma'am. Jenkins will do it just before he makes his getaway. I know it. Andrews, we've got to beat into the punch. Isn't there somewhere we can get there without them knowing it? I was just thinking, ma'am. What? It's too risky a business for you, Miss Delroy. Nothing is too risky if there's a chance to save Jimmy's life. What is it? You see that heavy cloud formation just above those hills? Yes. The ranch is just beyond. Is that right? Yes, about a half mile. There's only one way to slip in on them. What is it, Andrews? We can take the ship and climb it here and slip in over that range with an idling motor. We'll be above that cloud formation and... Oh, it's no use. It's too dangerous. Can't you see, Andrews, that this whole case hinges on our getting to that ranch and notice before the gang makes a getaway? What's your idea? The only way is for me to climb the ship above the clouds and for you and the sergeant to jump for it. In parachutes? Yes, Fitz. It's the only way. Pallorines to drop you on the other side of the hill. You can come down through the clouds and work your way up to the ranch through the brush. I'm game, Miss Delroy. I know you are, Fitz. All right, Andrews. It's a go. Get the ship started and we'll leave. After we jump, you cruise around the ranch a while and if we're too late, get the nearest authorities and try to stop them. Right. You take my shoes, sergeant. Explain to Miss Delroy how to crack it. I'll get the ship started. Hey, what about me? I'm hurt. I need a doctor. You won't leave me here. You stay here, buddy. If we pull through, we'll come back and get you. If we don't, well, a coyote's around here nice and friendly. Are you all set, Miss Delroy? Yes, ma'am. I want to get past that ridge a short distance. How high are we? About 10,000 pits. That's a long ways to fall if that shoot don't work. I knew a fellow in France wanted it. This shoot will crack okay. Don't let that worry you. I'm not worrying about the jump. It's after we get on the ground that our work starts. Right, Miss Delroy? Yes, Fitz. I'll throttle down a bit. I don't want them to hear our motor. You'll probably land within a couple of hundred feet of each other. But don't drift your bags too close together. If they touch, they might fold up. I'll bail out first, Miss Delroy. All right, Sergeant. May we have your gun, Andrews? Here it is. Better close your gun trap, Fitz. You don't want to lose that. Yeah, thanks. Well, this is about it, ain't it, Andrews? Just about, Fitz. You can bail out any time now. Yeah. Well, here we go. Fitz, you're a swell sport. I hope we make it. Sure we'll make it. It's a sin. Look, see? Here's the ring. As soon as you've cleared the ship, pull it straight out. It's easy. Look. It's open. He is safe. Well, good luck, Andrews. Stick around. We may need you. Good luck. How are you much, Miss Delroy? A little, Sergeant. It's quite a drop. What's the matter, ma'am? My ankle. I must have turned it. Huh. Are you sure it ain't broke? Oh, I don't think so, Fitz. You better let me go ahead. You stay here and rest. If I don't make it, then you can drive. You know me better than that, Fitz. Yes, ma'am. All right, I'll help you. If you feel better now, I can make it all right. Yeah, we'd better take it kind of easy, ma'am. We don't want those fellows to know we're here. We'd make easy targets out in this brush. Right, Fitz. Oh, I do hope we're not too late to help Jimmy. We don't even know for sure that they've got him, ma'am. That guy back there in the canyon might have been stalling. I doubt it, Fitz. I think the solution to this case lies right there in that barn. We'll find the man we're after there. Do you have any idea who it is, ma'am? Yes, Fitz, I do, but I can't be sure. Every angle on this case points to him, but my common sense tells me I'm wrong. I'm wrong like that a lot, ma'am. I know that, Fitz, but here's one case that you'll find your guess as good as mine. Do you think this guy killed Robert's the radio man back at the airport? Yes, Sergeant, he did. I just about figured out how he did it. He was in the closet in Robert's room when you found the body. Yeah, and I'm left there. Oh, I don't blame you, Fitz. I'd have done the same. How about the murder of that pilot? That was just a case of double-cross, Sergeant. The pilot was one of the gang. We know that from Andrew's story. Yeah, they must have had a fight over the money. Hey, we're getting close to that barn. They might hear us. Yeah. Hey, look. Hmm. It's the Otto Gyro, ma'am. Thank you, but we're in time. Yeah, but not any too soon. There's a guy starting the motor. Look. He's climbing down, Fitz. That's the man. Gifford and I surprised in the radio room. Yeah? I'm positive. He's going back into the barn, ma'am. The others must be in there, too. We can't waste any time now, Fitz. They're all set for a getaway. We'll move along the stands here, and hope they don't see it. If they do, break for that shed over there and try to hold them back. I'm going inside. And I'm going with you, ma'am. Don't take any chances, Fitz. Shh. Listen. Must be four of them, like that guy said. What do we do, huh? Listen, I'm in it here at the door. Ah, why don't you talk to him now? He knows who you are. Listen, you. I'm running this show. We'll take him up with us and dump him in the lake. Bad boys. I've heard it before. They're talking about Jimmy. It means he's alive. Yeah, let's rush him. We don't expect this. All right, Sergeant. But remember, it's four of two. Ah, some of them rats is yellow. I know it. Besides, we got the advantage. Come on. I'm right behind you, Fitz. I don't give them a chance if they reach for a gun, shoot it out with them. OK, ma'am. They're licked already. Don't move another step. There! There! Ah, nice work, Jimmy. You spoil these aims. Hey, who's that in the corner there? It's Powers. The boss. Get him, Fitz. No, you don't. Get back! You won't take me. Play back there! He's heading for the autogiral, ma'am. You can't get through that way. Go back the way you came in. Hurry, Fitz. He's climbing in. He'll get away. Hold these men, Jimmy. Here's a gun. Come on, Fitz. Oh, we've lost him. He's taken off, ma'am. He's going to crash him. You better now, Andrew. He smacked into that gyro. Yeah, what about Powers? Powers wasn't as lucky as you were, Andrew. He's dead. I was afraid of that. See, I just meant to share off his rotor blade. That's just as well. Powers admitted everything before he died. The whole thing was his idea. He engineered everything. Yeah, I got his statement right here. Boy, but what a confession. Can you beat that? The general manager reckoned his own ship. Powers was badly in need of money, Fitz. Who's that? Gifford. He's been out calling for the rangers to come and get these three mugs we got tied up here. I got the rangers taken, Irene. Good. The fellow there said the three of the boys were already on the way over. They found one of the fellows in the canyon, and he told them where we were. He'll be here any minute. That's great. How's Powers? He's dead, Jimmy. I didn't think he'd pull through. I'm glad to see this fellow's okay. This is Andy Andrews, Jimmy. He was waylaid by Powers and his gang. They thought he was dead. Hmm. I knew the fellow we found in the ship wasn't Andrews. I heard Powers tell the Red Face fellow he did a nice job. Yeah, but I'd like to know about Robert. Well, I know about that bit. Robert's was in on the deal with Powers. Yeah? But he didn't want to be a party to a murder, so he tried to break out of the gang. Powers killed him while we were downstairs. Well, it looks like everything is washed up, including that nice new mail ship I was flying. I didn't hurt bad. I remember a fellow once in France. Oh, Sergeant. Yes, sir. The men are here for the previews. Oh, yes, sir.