A scaffold falls on a new bride, after her husband accuses her of rendezvousing with an old flame. Another former suitor suspects the husband faked the accident, and urges her to cut off the affair. When she persists, he fears the unbalanced husband will again try to kill her, so he devises a plan to protect her. 

Bill Fleming is upset that his wife is having an affair with Philip Baxter, the most recent of a long line of lovers. Bill is an ex-boxer and an outdoors man and nothing would give him more pleasure than to wring Baxter's neck. When he mentions to his fishing pal that he has a large collection of dueling weapons, his buddy suggests that he challenge Baxter to a duel. He tells Bill that under California law, you get special treatment in the courts if you kill someone in a duel. Little does Bill realize that his fishing pal had a purpose in giving Bill the advice he did.

A nurse claiming she suspects her very rich husband of killing his first wife, seeks advice from a lawyer, instead of going to the police.

Thelma Tompkins is a waitress in a hotel restaurant. She's a good waitress and has always been kind to old Mrs. Mannerheim who eats in the restaurant every evening. Thelma is shocked when Mrs. Mannerheim tells her that she is her closest friend and has left her a considerable legacy in her will. In the interim, she gives Thelma a brooch. Over the following months, Mrs. Mannerheim becomes ever more demanding and Thelma's musician boyfriend Arthur suggests that maybe the time has come for the old lady's demise to accelerated somewhat. Thelma poison's her tea but without any obvious effect. Thelma takes matters into her own hands and the subsequent coroner's inquiry reveals some interesting information about the poison she was using.

Scotland Yard is tasked with ensuring that the recently widowed Lady Gwendolyn Avon doesn't smuggle an expensive necklace known as the "Avon Emeralds" out of England. Most of her late husband's estate was given up in death taxes and the police are sure she could sell them at a premium abroad. Inspector Benson is tasked with ensuring the jewels' safekeeping but when they are stolen from the hotel safe, it appears Lady Avon has a perfect plan.

After a man puts a permanent end to his dominant wife's demands for extravagance, he becomes the victim of blackmail.

A local town council plans to evict two old prospectors who have been homesteading and searching for gold in the area before the town was built. They make a bargain with the local sheriff over their staying at their home.

A gunsmith fears for his life after witnessing crooks commit a murder. Alfred Hitchcock deals with a duelist problem.

While driving along a country road, Harry Adams and his wife are pulled over for speeding. This begins a chain reaction of events which lead to the inescapable conclusion that the town in which the Adamses are stranded is chock-full of crooks and grafters, including a corrupt traffic cop, a dishonest judge, and a duplicitous car repairman. Without giving away too much of the outcome, let it be noted that Harry loudly complains about every outrage, while his nervous wife never relaxes her grip on her outsized purse.

In Malaya, ex-plantation owner Harry Pope, who has lost his share in the business due to drunkenness, discovers that, while reading in bed, a deadly snake has slithered under the sheets to rest upon his stomach. When his ex-partner Timber Woods enters, Woods tries to take advantage of the situation.