Summary
Deep within the humid, labyrinthine topography of southern Florida, the Broome estate stands as a skeletal monument to a fading lineage. Pen Broome, a woman of resilient grace, navigates this crumbling architecture of the past alongside her father, existing in the liminal space between gentility and ruin. Their isolation is shattered by the arrival of Don Counsell, a fugitive fleeing a meticulously orchestrated frame-up for the murder of his business associate. The architect of this deception is the predatory Ernest Riever, who maintains a floating fortress of iniquity upon his yacht, where the actual assassin, Spike Talley, is held in a state of coerced silence. As the law closes in, Pen transforms into a clandestine operative, shielding Don from the machinations of the state and the vengeful Riever. The narrative reaches a fever pitch when Don is ensnared and entombed within a ballast bulkhead—a cold, steel womb filling with the suffocating waters of the Atlantic. In a desperate gambit for salvation, Pen enlists the aid of a Seminole guide to infiltrate Riever’s vessel, offering herself in a sacrificial marriage to the villain to purchase Don’s life. This transactional tragedy is interrupted by a sudden fracture in Riever’s conspiracy; Spike Talley, fearing an ultimate double-cross, denounces his master in a fit of panicked lucidity. The ensuing arrival of the authorities marks the collapse of Riever’s empire, culminating in the villain's final, violent act of self-erasure.
Synopsis
Pen Broome, who lives with her father on their rundown estate in southern Florida, helps Don Counsell hide from detectives who seek him for the murder of his business partner. Don is being framed by Ernest Riever, who holds the real murderer, Spike Talley, captive aboard his yacht. Don is finally captured by Riever and placed in a ballast bulkhead into which water is allowed to flow. Pen finds the yacht with the aid of a Seminole man and offers Riever marriage in return for Don's life just as Spike breaks in. Fearing a double-cross, he denounces Riever for the murder. Detectives enter and rescue Don, while Riever shoots himself.
