Summary
Under the bruised equatorial twilight of 1920s Rio, Juliet Saltmarsh—opium hawk turned passport forger—threads her scarlet parasol through the porticos of the American consulate, hunting Erminie North, porcelain wife of the hawk-eyed consul who clipped the wings of her smuggler-crony Burke. With George, her gaunt husband and co-architect of whispered extortion, she throws a soirée of velvet masks and saxophone sweat, steering Erminie into a candlelit alcove where Burke’s shutter clicks once—twice—trapping a married reputation inside silver halide. The next dawn, Erminie glides into Burke’s shuttered suite, tears pearling on her lace collar, pleading for the damning strip; Burke, stirred by the tremor in her gloved fingers, stuffs her behind a Chinese screen when North storms in with badges clanking. A bargain is struck: one confession for one anonymity. Burke is manacled, yet Erminie’s whispered testimony to the tribunal buys him steerage out of Brazil. The Saltmarshes, left holding crates of morphine and forged visas, sink into a tribunal maw, while Basil North—forever ignorant—tips his consular hat at the pier, unaware that the woman at his side once breathed another man’s cologne in a hotel darkness.
Synopsis
Juliet and George Saltmarsh, ex-blackmailers and opium smugglers, have secured passports, but their co-worker Burke is prevented from leaving Brazil due to the suspicions of the American consul, Basil North. To circumvent North's interference, Juliet cultivates the friendship of the consul's wife, Erminie. Unknown to her husband, Erminie accepts the Saltmarshes' invitation to a party during which she is lured into a compromising position with Burke and photos are snapped of the pair. In her effort to regain the negatives, Erminie goes to Burke's hotel room and begs for the photos. At that moment, North, accompanied by the police, arrives to search the blackmailer's suite. Touched by Erminie's innocence, Burke hides her in a room and offers to confess to North if his visitor is allowed to remain anonymous. North consents, and after Burke's arrest, Erminie intercedes to gain permission for him to leave the country. She succeeds in her efforts, the Saltmarshes are convicted of smuggling, and Basil North remains forever ignorant of his wife's indiscretion.
