 Miss Irene Delroy of the Department of Justice and her assistant Sergeant Fitzgerald are working night and day on the airmail mystery which concerns the wrecking and robbing of Trans-American Airlines fastest airmail planes. Jimmy Gifford, roving newspaper reporter, attracted by the mysterious crashes, has been assisting Miss Delroy and Fitzgerald. Ernest Powers, General Manager of Trans-American Lines, reveals to Miss Delroy that he has been conducting investigations of his own following the crashing of 655, piloted by Andy Andrews, cracked male flyer, who was killed by the male thieves shortly after he was forced down in Devil's Canyon. Powers investigation has implicated Roberts, the radio operator in charge of Metropolitan Airport. Miss Delroy sends Sergeant Fitzgerald to bring Roberts to the offices for questioning him when Fitzgerald reports, he's dead, ma'am, stone dead, a suicide. What? You can't mean that, Fitzgerald. It's true, I just seen him. He's in his room, ma'am. Oh, there must be something wrong. Are you sure it's Roberts? Sure, I know Roberts. He plugged himself square between the eyes. I came right back here to notify you. You want to go up there, won't you, ma'am? Certainly, Fitzgerald. Where's Roberts' room? Right between the signal tower and the radio room, ma'am, on the third floor. Powers? Wasn't he supposed to be on duty tonight? Well, yes, he was. Does he live upstairs? Yes, we've fitted out a room for him so he could be near the set. Since we've started night operations on such a large scale, we've had to keep him around most of the time. So, do you have a relief operator? Yes, he comes on at seven in the morning. I see. Well, leave the way, Fitz. We'll call for the coroner when we finish our investigation. Coming to me? Surely, Irene. Mr. Powers? If you don't mind, I'll stay down here. I'm rather... Very well. Go ahead, Sergeant. Yes, ma'am. There's something mysterious here. I want to see why Roberts decided to take the easy way out. Yes, ma'am. You know, I thought it was sort of funny myself. This way, ma'am, up these stairs here. These steps also lead to the signal tower? Yes, ma'am. Roberts lives in this wing here. Here's the room, ma'am. He's inside. The door's locked, Fitz. Yes, ma'am. I locked it. Here's the key, ma'am. Very good, Sergeant. Does the door lock when you first came up? No, ma'am. I knocked a couple of times and didn't get no answer, so I just went in. He doesn't seem to... Oh, there we are. Now, don't move the things, sis. No, ma'am. Mm-hmm. Just as I thought. Close the door, Jimmy. What's wrong, ma'am? Nothing's wrong, Sergeant. Just a hunch. Turn on that extra light over the bed, Jimmy. Right. Did you change this man's position, Fitz? No, ma'am. I turned his head a little to make sure it was him. He's dead all right. There's no doubt about that, Irene. Right between the eyes. Nasty job, too. Look at the size of that hole. You can spare the detail, Jimmy. What I mean is you didn't change Roberts' position on the floor. No, ma'am. I just...say. That guy was laying on his face before. What do you mean, Fitz? I mean, Roberts was laying face downward when I came downstairs to get you. Are you sure, Sergeant? Yes, ma'am. I turned his head a bit to make sure it was Roberts, but I didn't turn his whole body. Holy mackerel, look. His pockets have been emptied. All right, Sergeant. Also, it's inside coat pocket. Aasty job, too. Say, what's going on around here? Take it easy, Sergeant. Was that window open when you first came in this room? I don't remember, ma'am. I'd rather believe it was closed. Oh, don't try to, Jimmy. It may contain fingerprints. You mean, Roberts wasn't a suicide? Did I say that, Jimmy? Well, no, but... It's bad practice to jump at conclusions, even in this business. Let's take a look at things. When I sent you to look for Roberts, Fitz, where did you go? I went downstairs to the radio room. But there wasn't anybody there, so I looked out on the grounds, and there wasn't nobody there, either. Well, I called the hangar and the night mechanics said Roberts hadn't been there since he'd serviced the 9 o'clock plane. Oh, what, Fitz? Don't take all night. Well, so I asked the switchboard name, where he was, and she says, ain't he with you? No, he ain't with us, I tell her. So then she says he was up in his room a few minutes ago, and so I comes up here and I find him. He said the door was open. Yes, ma'am. Were the lights on? Yes, ma'am, except the one we turned on just now. And you don't remember about the window? No, ma'am. How about this closet door, Fitz? Was it open or closed? Closed. Just like it is now. Did you open it? No, ma'am. I went right downstairs to get you. Too bad, Fitz. Had you opened that door, you'd probably come face to face with someone who could have given us a little light on this mystery. Do you think that somebody killed Roberts and then hid in that closet? I didn't say he killed Roberts. Roberts' death may or may not be suicide, but I do know that somebody has been in this closet. He may still be in there for all we know. Yeah. Open the door, Jimmy, and stand back. It's empty, Irene. Just a minute, Jimmy. I'm going to step into that closet. Mm-hmm. I was right, Fitz. Someone had been in this closet for quite a while. Feel the temperature in here. Oh, you can't tell that way, ma'am. You've got to look for cigarettes and paper. That's all right in this closet, but I know definitely that someone has been hiding in this closet for quite some time. Ooh, it's close in here. Too bad you didn't open the door of this closet, Fitz. Do you think Roberts was killed, Irene? I don't know. The sergeant told us it was suicide. How did you figure that out, Fitz? Well, ma'am, the gun was right in his hand and there's powder marks on his face. And here's the customary suicide note on his smoking stand. Oh, a note. Read it, ma'am. Maybe you could figure it out. It's just a power. What does it say? It says, power? I've been deceiving you long enough. I am the one who has been tipping the male thieves to valuable shipments on our planes. Andrew's death tonight was too much for me. I didn't intend to be connected with murder. Send my company insurance to my wife. No signature? No signature. Did you check the handwriting, Fitz? No, not yet, ma'am. Take it downstairs and check if Roberts reports. Yes. And dodges. Yes, ma'am. Tell that switchboard operator to come up here. Yes, ma'am. What can I do, Irene? You might see if there's anything left in Roberts' pocket, Jimmy, while I use this phone. Okay. Hello. Give me Power's office, please. Look in the desk pocket, too, Jimmy. Hello, Power's? We're upstairs. I want you to call out the entire night force at once. Have them search the grounds and buildings around the airport for any strange characters and bring anyone they find here. Understand? Good. Give me an outside line, please. What's that, Jimmy? A notebook, Powering. I found it in the best pocket. Save it a bit. Hello, operator. Get me police headquarters. What type of a notebook is it? Hello. I want to speak to the night captain in charge of homicide. Yes. Hello. This is Irene Delroy, Department of Justice. Code, Tantrax. Right. Look, we're out at Trans-American offices at Metropolitan Airport. There's been a man killed here tonight. It may be suicide. Then again, it may not be. I want you to send us your best fingerprint man and a photographer. That's right. Let's see that notebook, Jimmy. Hmm. Roberts was mixed up in those robberies. Look at these notations. What are they, Irene? Extensive figures. Listen. Salary to $15, $75, rent $35, groceries $30, furniture payment $7.5. Do you think Roberts would be figuring small items like those if he was getting a cut on the male robberies? Doesn't seem right, does it? Not to me, Jimmy. That's probably the telephone operator. Put that screen in front of Roberts's body, Jimmy. I don't want it to fade before we can question her. Right. Oh, well. Her name's Maisie. I heard powers address her. Thanks. You're Maisie, aren't you? Yes, ma'am. Come in, please. I'm Irene Delroy. We're working on a little matter at the Department of Justice. I want you to help us about a few things. Will you answer some questions? Julie, I'll be glad to. Thank you. What time did you last see Mr. Roberts, the radio operator? Just a few minutes before you and Mr. Powers and Mr. Fitzgerald came back from the canyon. How long before? About 10 minutes. Where was he at that time? Downstairs at the control panel. He left the room shortly after? Yes. He said he was coming up here to his room. Did he give any reason for coming up here? No. Did he say anything to you that would make you think there was something important waiting for him up here? No. Did he say anything at all that was unusual? No. Here. Um, what were you going to say? Well, if he said if Mr. Powers came in to give him the ring, and did you? Yes. I called him about five minutes after Mr. Powers came in. Did he answer the phone? Yes. That is, I think it was he. Why? Didn't you recognize his voice? It seemed rather strange, Mr. Delroy. Of course, he may be sleeping or resting. What did he say? I told him that Mr. Powers was back, and he said all right. That all? Yes. That's all right. Now, Maisie, I want you to think hard on this question. It's very important. Did Robert say anything to you that would give you any idea what he wanted to talk to Mr. Powers about? No. Nothing that I can remember. Did he act as if he were worried about something? No. He seemed well angry. Indeed. And he asked if he powers. Yes. What happened? Never mind right now, Maisie. You go back to this witch fort and don't mention to anyone that Robert is missing. Yes, Mr. Delroy. Oh, just a minute. You said the voice that answered this telephone didn't sound like Robert's. Yes. Did you recognize it as belonging to anyone here at the airport? No, Mr. Delroy. That'll be all. Thank you. Well, you didn't get any more with her, did you, Irene? Oh, I don't know, Jimmy. At least I fixed the time of Robert's murder. Murder? That's what I said, Jimmy. There's no doubt about it. But, Irene, you... Of course, the evidence is a bit lacking. But mark my word, someone waited for Robert in this room and for some reason killed him. Do you think that Robert was mixed up in these robberies? That remains to be seen. I do know, however, that he was killed deliberately. And your reason? Just guesswork so far, Jimmy. There may have been something in this room that Robert needed. He came up here, probably spent a few minutes getting whatever he came after. Then he walks over and opens the door to this closet and gets a bullet right between the eyes. And the murderer? He hangs Robert's body away from the door, puts the gun in his hand and starts looking for whatever he came after. The telephone rings. He's afraid not to answer. He just says, all right, and hangs up. Before he's finished, the sergeant knocks on the door and he has to duck back into the closet. You mean that he was in that closet when the sergeant entered the room? Yes. And it's probably just as well that the sergeant didn't open the door or he'd probably been with Robert. Jimmy, this whole business is a mixed up... Hello? What's that? You'll see it. We'll see you right away. Quick, Jimmy, that was power. He says there's someone fooling around in the radio room up here. What? He says he heard the set go on the air and there's no one downstairs at the panel. Whoever it is must be in the room right next to us. You suppose it could be... I don't know, Jimmy. We're not going to take any chances. We're going into that room and find out. Have your gun ready. You make any move at all, shoot and shoot to kill.