Burnt Fingers

Anne Cabell, a magnetic and popular hostess at the high-society Cafe Justine, finds herself entangled in a dangerous web of deceit spun by her professional dancing partner, the predatory gigolo Bernard Stockmar. When her friend Vera falls victim to Stockmar’s blackmail schemes involving scandalous love letters, Anne takes it upon herself to infiltrate his apartment and retrieve the evidence. The mission takes a lethal turn when Stockmar is discovered murdered by an unknown assailant while Anne is still on the premises. Narrowly escaping the law with the help of a sympathetic neighbor, Anne finds her reputation in tatters and her fiancé, Dick Farnham, convinced of her guilt. The resolution of this domestic nightmare comes from an unlikely source: Lord Cumberly of the Foreign Office. As the investigation deepens, the film pivots from a crime of passion into a geopolitical thriller, revealing that Stockmar and his killer were not merely social parasites, but spies entangled in a web of international espionage. Anne’s exoneration depends on a dying confession that finally clears her name and restores her place in society.