Overview

Against the background of a centuries old estate on the coast of Southern California, Lorinda Channing, the current head of a great American family, plots the perfect crime. Believing that one of her three heirs is attempting to murder her, she evolves a trap which requires the cooperation of a weakling doctor, whom she bribes into giving her a potion that will counterfeit death. The doctor, is, at the crucial moment, suddenly tempted by incredible wealth and, to his own and the audience's belief, buries his patient alive But she returns, and her ingenious trap is sprung. At the moment of her complete triumph, it is discovered that, as with all criminals, she has made one single slip.