- A double-crossing woman, the two-timing P.I. she hired, the corpulent "empress of crime", and a gentleman thief are all after a legendary priceless eighth-century ram's horn.
- Sardonic detective Shane, thrown out of one town for bringing trouble, heads for home and his ex-partner's detective agency. The business is in a sad way, and Shane, who has had the forethought to provide himself with a 250-dollar commission from an old lady on the train, is welcomed with open arms. When pretty Valerie Purvis walks in the next day willing to pay over the odds to put a tail on the man who did her wrong, Shane's way with the ladies looks like paying off yet again. But things start to go wrong when his partner is murdered, and Shane himself comes home to find his apartment wrecked by a gentlemanly crook who comes back to apologise -- and to tell him a fascinating fairy-story about the fabled Horn of Roland that looks like not being so mythical after all. Miss Purvis wants protection. The police want answers. And all sorts of people want the 'French horn'... but Shane is one jump ahead of everyone all the way. Well, almost.—Igenlode Wordsmith
- Detective Ted Shayne (Warren William) is a happy-go-lucky man about town and ladies man who also happens to be a crack detective, and gets run out of town by a group of city fathers, so he returns to San Marino to his former partner Ames (Porter Hall), bringing with him some high-paying clients. When lovely blonde Valerie Purvis (Bette Davis) hires Shayne to track down Mme. Barabbas (Alison Skipworth) but doesn't tell him why, Shayne complies and is naturally curious particularly because Purvis pays a lot of money for the detecting job. Barabbas coincidentally wants Shayne to track down Purvis and retrieve an ancient horn that is filled with price-less jewels which she says was stolen from her. Along the way Shayne's apartment and office is ransacked by a dandy Englishman Anthony Travers (Arthur Treacher) who informs the detective that Purvis is not to be trusted. When Purvis sends a message for Shayne to meet her, Ames goes instead and is shot dead by the dangerous femme. Purvis asks Shayne to pick up a package from a ship from Asia, but when Shayne arrives the ship is burning, and the wounded Captain arrives to deliver the legendary gem-filled horn everyone is chasing. With the horn in his possession Shayne arranges it so that all the main culprits convene on the docks with the Police present to make an arrest, but the detective has one final thing to do to insure that the killer of his partner doesn't go free and he corners Purvis at his apartment to get to the bottom of things.
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