Summary
Set against the backdrop of post-war disillusionment, Under the Rouge follows Whitey and Skeeter, two decorated veterans who have traded their medals for the tools of the safe-cracker. When a botched job leads to Skeeter's death at the hands of the police—facilitated by the treacherous informant Mal—Whitey finds himself at a moral crossroads. Seeking redemption and the comfort of his former flame, Kitty, he retreats to a quiet rural town where Kitty has attempted to bury her criminal past under a veneer of respectability. However, the pastoral peace is a facade. Whitey must contend with Fred Morton, a seemingly upright bank clerk who holds Kitty's heart, and the sudden arrival of Mal, who is now running a religious confidence scam. The story culminates in a series of social sacrifices and revelations as Kitty risks her reputation to save an innocent girl from Mal's clutches, ultimately exposing the rot hidden beneath the small town's polished surface.
Synopsis
Several years after the war, during which they were decorated, Whitey and Skeeter are blowing safes for a living. While pulling off a job, Skeeter is surprised by the police and killed. Taken into custody, Whitey learns that a lounge lizard named Mal, who hangs around on the edge of the underworld, is the police informer responsible for Skeeter's death. Whitey is held as a material witness, but, through the good offices of an old Army buddy, he is released. Looking for Kitty, his underworld sweetheart, who has gone to the country to find peace and quiet, Whitey finds her in a small town and, believing her to be in love with Fred Morton, a bank clerk, pretends that he has found another girl. Mal arrives in town as the advance man for a confidence agent who poses as an evangelist, and he persuades Evelyn, the daughter of Skeeter's mother, with whom she is living, to elope with him. Kitty learns of this and, in order to expose Mal, tells the story of her own criminal past. Fred drops her, and Kitty tries to drown herself in the river. Whitey saves her life, and exposes Fred as an embezzler.
