Becoming editor-in-chief of her father's newspaper during World War II, Irene Ingram has something to prove to the men in the newsroom. But Irene has bigger worries when crime reporter Moe Bauer turns up dead at the foot of his cellar stairs. It turns out that Moe was uncovering clues about threats to a Jewish hardware store owner, and Irene senses a direct link. She and her best friend, scrappy secretary Peggy Reardon, search for clues, but if they aren't careful they may face an all-too-literal deadline.