Crime Does Not Pay #72 (1949)

Crag Denby, a delusional egomaniac obsessed with Hollywood stardom, leads a gang on a violent crime spree, convinced his notoriety will launch his film career. As police close in, his paranoia and arrogance escalate, blinding him to the consequences of his actions—until a shocking revelation from his past threatens to unravel everything.

When a pair of robbers strike a steakhouse, the owner’s frantic escape leads police to a wounded man named Martin Seery, whose only clue is a cryptic letter from a woman named Mary Lou Dwight. As detectives track him through a trail of blood and a red cab, they uncover a web of mistaken identity and a killer whose fate hinges on a single, cursed card.

Harlow Venablees, recently released from prison, returns home to find his wife Faith and her bodyguard Niles Lowrey entangled in a web of suspicion and danger. With a vicious watchdog, a mysterious count, and a butler who may be hiding something, the penthouse becomes a tense stage where each guest has a motive—and someone is determined to silence them all.