Nancy Ordway is an aspiring writer hoping to make it big in New York at the expense of everyone around her, including Broadway producer Peter Denver, who reluctantly lets her use his apartment to work during the day. And when Peter's wife, Iris, comes home from a trip to find Nancy dead in the bathroom, the assigned detective, Lt. Bruce, soon realizes this assumed suicide is more likely a murder. Everyone Ordway knew is suddenly suspect while a series of flashbacks reveal the plan she was weaving to climb the social ladder.