- While arguing with her boyfriend, a woman falls down stairs and dies. The man is coerced into stuffing her body in a trunk and tossing it in a lake. Tony Blake gets involved when bad guys come after his new magic student, the man's son.
- Tony is helping eighteen year old Danny Ryerson with his magic act, which he is performing at a benefit show in a few days. Danny more than anything wants to please his father, Paul Ryerson. Danny learns that his father is being blackmailed by a so-called friend, Matt Matthews, but doesn't know the nature of the blackmail beyond it having to do with incriminating photographs. They are of Paul carrying the lifeless body of his girlfriend, Carol Spain, who he accidentally killed, and whose body he and Matt disposed of together. Matthews had been following them as Carol was apparently seeing him as well. Much like Tony does, Danny wants to use his magic skills, as limited as they are, to help his father out of this situation. Tony knows that Danny is up to something as he has taken some of his magic apparatus. As Tony gets involved, he discovers that not all seems right with Matthews' story, Matthews who will go to any length to maintain his plan against Paul, including murder.—Huggo
- Danny Ryerson watches as Tony rehearses a stage illusion producing a woman from an empty trunk. Tony walks Danny through performing the trick, and assures Danny that he'll be able do it on his own someday. Danny confirms that the benefit is in two weeks and it's for a good cause, and he doesn't want to mess up his magic show he's doing for it. Tony assures him that he'll be fine, and Danny says that he wants to impress his father Paul when he comes back from the business trip he's on.
Paul is at his home with his girlfriend, Carol Spain. She thanks him for the week he set up for them, and Paul asks her to marry him. Carol immediately refuses and refuses to talk further about it. As she goes up a flight of stairs, Paul says that he doesn't want to lose her. She goes up the stairs to bed, and Paul goes after her and asks what the matter is. Carol bursts into laughter, and doesn't stop when Paul tells her to. He shoves her and she falls down the stairs to her death, and Paul goes after her. Paul carries the body out, unaware that his friend Matt Matthews is taking photos of him.
After putting his camera away, Matt flashes his headlights, goes over to Paul, and says that he came to see his old buddy and the woman he thought he was engaged to. Matt assumes that Carol is passed out drunk, but soon discovers that she's dead. Paul says that Carol made a scene, fell, and her death was an accident. He tells Matt that he didn't know Carol was Paul's girl and goes to call the police , but Matt says no one will believe it wasn't murder. He helps Paul put Carol's body in a drunk and then they dump it in the middle of a nearby lake.
When Paul returns from his "trip", Tony and Danny show him a handcuff escape they've been practicing. Danny then begins his solo performance and fumbles his way through the act. Paul excuses himself for an appointment, and asks what kind of magician Danny could become. Tony admits that the teenager will never be better than an amateur, but assures Paul that Danny works hard to please him. Danny offers to come with him to cook, and Paul tells him to practice and he'll be fine. Once Paul leaves, Danny wonders why Paul is having a business meeting on a Saturday. He tells Tony that he has an appointment at the library and has to go, and Tony assures him that he'll do fine at the benefit. Once Danny leaves, Tony tells Jerry that they can figure Danny isn't going to the library.
Danny drives home. Inside, Paul is paying off Matt $10,000 while Matt's thug Gruber looks on. Danny hears them as Paul says that's all Matt is getting. Matt tells him to sell the house and dismisses Paul's appeal to their friendship. Danny runs in and Gruber shoves him down. Despite that, Danny tells Matt to give Paul his money back. Matt is unimpressed and leaves with Gruber, and Paul tells Danny that it's none of his business and he should stay out of the entire business. Disappointed in his father, Danny seemingly accepts Paul's orders and leaves.
That night, Tony and Jerry drive to Tony's magic workshop. He notices that his trunk and lockpick set is gone, and Jerry finds Danny's glasses and figures he's the thief. Tony discovers that Paul doesn't have a phone listing, and finds an invoice from a shipping company. It shows a crate was delivered to Matt's photo studios, and Tony figures that Danny snuck himself in with the trunk and the lockpicking set.
Tony calls Max and asks him what he knows about Matt. Max remembers that there was a police investigation with violence into an extortion charge against Matt, but the victim dropped the charges. Max hangs up and goes back to playing chess with his date.
Matt and Gruber go to Matt's studio to move some files, and find a crate there. The photographer has Gruber open the crate holding the trunk, look in the trunk but find it empty, and they move the trunk into the office without opening it. Paul arrives and hands over the $3,000 extra that he was able to raise. After Matt and Gruber turn off the lights and walk Paul out, Danny emerges from the trunk and uses the lockpicks to get into Matt's office.
Tony pulls up outside then hides as Paul and the others come out. Matt tells Paul that he owns him, and Paul drives off.
Danny enters Matt's office.
Tony takes to the roofs looking for a way into the studio.
Danny finds the cabinet with Matt's files and opens it with the lockpicks. Matt and Gruber come in, and Tony sees them all from the skylight. He sees Matt and Gruber corner Danny, who says that people are getting wise to Matt. Unimpressed, Matt says that they're going to ship Danny home alive but bruised in the trunk. Gruber grabs Danny and carries him into Matt's office, and Tony drops in through the skylight and finishes opening the cabinet. He finds the file with the photos of Paul carrying Carol and pockets them.
In the office, Matt wondered how Danny hid in the apparently empty trunk. Danny says that he's a magician, and Matt warns him that he's a kid in trouble. In the studio, Tony sets up the lights to strobe, opens the door, yanks Danny into the studio, and shuts the door. He bars it with a chair, and Gruber shoots his way out. Meanwhile, Tony leads Danny out down the stairs. Gruber shoots at them but misses, and Tony and Danny get outside and hide up a fire escape. They then run to Tony's Corvette and drive off.
At the Ryerson house, Tony and Danny tell Paul what happened. Paul tells Danny to stop interfering, and says that help isn't possible. Tony shows Paul the photos that he took, and Danny assures his father that he didn't look at him. When Tony wonders how someone could use the photos for blackmail, Paul says that it was an accident with Carol but Matt claims it was murder. He explains how Carol accidentally died, and says that Matt had been following him. Paul admits that he didn't take Carol to the hospital or call the police.
The next day, the police search the lake and Sheriff Harris says that Paul might get off lightly since he came to them. Harris has always checked with Matt, who denies helping Paul put Carol's body in the lake. The photos don't prove where they were taken, and the divers find the trunk. Tony figures that the trunk will be empty, and Matt and Carol were working together to set Paul up.
The divers find the trunk and it turns out to have Carol's body in it. Harris puts Paul under arrest and the deputies lead him away. Tony and Danny return to the Ryerson house and find Matt and Gruber searching the place. Danny and Tony take cover as Gruber shoots at them before leaving with Matt. The teenager figures that there's more going on than Carol's death, and Tony agrees.
Tony calls in Lt. Sanchez, who agrees that it was more than simple blackmail. They meet with Max, who has learned that Ryan's company was developing a battery that can power a car. The group figures that Carol was conducting industrial espionage to get the plans for the battery, and someone hired Matt to get the plans which were worth $50 million. Sanchez notes that he has a confession and a corpse, and Tony notes that the woman could have been anyone. Once Sanchez leaves, Max notes that the police have confirmed that "Carol Spain" is an alias and she has no background on record. Tony suggests that Max write a column on Carol, encouraging people to call him if they have any information on her. Max reluctantly agrees.
Danny sets up outside of Matt's studio. Gruber easily spots him and tells Matt, who tells Gruber not to do anything because he doesn't want to draw police attention. He also figures that he can use Danny to set up Tony, who is the real threat.
Max soon gets a call from a woman saying that she knows Carol. Jerry traces the call as Max haggles with the woman over her "fee". Tony gets on the line and says that he'll meet with her in lieu of Max, and the woman says that they'll meet at the Mission Inn in one hour, near a plaque with an inscription. She hangs up and Jerry reports that they weren't able to keep the woman on the line long enough to trace the call.
A fake investigator, Browning, visits Danny and claims that they're getting some leads on Paul's case. Danny tells him Max called to tell him Tony is meeting with someone who can identify Carol, at the Mission Inn. Matt and Gruber come in and say that they'll be there, and Gruber grabs Danny. The photographer pays Browning, who leaves. Gruber chloroforms Danny unconscious while Matt looks on in satisfaction.
Tony arrives at the Mission Inn with the money. The Inn is closed for alterations, and Tony spots the inscription on a ledge beneath a window. The woman emerges from behind the curtain, and Tony goes up.
Matt and Gruber arrive outside and haul the gagged Danny in.
Tony comes to a courtyard, and the woman steps out on a balcony above. When Tony calls that he has the money and opens the case to show her, the woman tells him to bring it to the roof garden.
Matt and Gruber tie Danny to a pillar then go to the roof.
Tony goes to the roof garden and the woman leads him into a room under renovation. He recognizes the woman as Carol from Matt's blackmail photos, and she says that her real name is Lorna Hackett. Matt hired her to play Carol, and she thought it was a shakedown. Lorna didn't know that Paul was going to be set up for a murder charge, and she didn't like ripping him off. She wanted to get a stake and get away by herself.
Danny works at his bonds and manages to untie himself.
Lorna tells Tony that she used to do a tumbling act, and is a good swimmer. Once the trunk sank, she escaped thanks to a fake slipknot that Matt tied around the trunk. Lorna was upset that Matt killed the girl to frame Paul, and Tony tells her that she was too trusting. She says that she's ready to talk to the police and Tony doesn't have to give her the money. Tony offers to help her if she wants it.
Matt and Gruber spot Tony and Lorna coming out. The two crooks follow Tony and Lorna on the balcony below where they're walking, then cut them off. Matt takes the case with the money and opens it, and it shoots into the air propelled by a mechanism that Tony rigged. Danny arrives and jumps Gruber, and they fall down a nearby flight of stairs. Tony handcuffs Matt to a railing, while Danny takes care of Gruber and comes back with the thug's gun, surprised at his own competence.
Later in the theater, Danny tells Tony, Max, Jerry, and Paul that he escaped by remembering what Tony taught him. He's unable to repeat his success, and Tony tells him that he needs more practice.
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