The deceased father of Alice Trilling left behind a strange will. His successful toy company would be left to her ONLY if Alice is married or engaged within a year's time. Until then, her wheelchair bound Uncle Harry and a board of directors will run the company. In searching for a husband, Alice has one major problem: she's coyote ugly and she's the first one to admit it. An artist begins a flirtation and after seeing a portrait he's painted of her, Alice begins to think she could find happiness with him. There's one problem though: nasty old Uncle Harry has been playing matchmaker behind the scenes for reasons of his own. Alice discovers her uncle's perfidity and pushes over his wheelchair. Quickly fleeing the scene, Alice is later arrested when Uncle Harry is found dead. Perry is retained as defense counsel but even he has a tough time in this one because Alice herself thinks she's guilty.
Irma Hodge's wealthy step-father, Sumner Hodge, is withholding her inheritance because he dislikes her folksinger boyfriend, Con Bolton. When someone supposedly takes a shot at Sumner, he suggest to the police that Con is to blame. Then another attempt is made on Sumner's life which proves successful. His car goes over a cliff with him behind the wheel and an investigation reveals that the brake line had been severed. Witnesses then claim Con was fooling around with the brakes minutes before the crash and he's charged with murder.
Small town junk dealer/mayoral candidate Mort Lynch gives college dropout Barry Davis a job because he was once close friend's with Barry's uncle. Barry and Mort's relationship is uneasy and he's soon the number one suspect when someone bashes Mort's skull with a monkey wrench and it's found in Barry's car.
Chemist Randolph James has started a successful company to develop a new antibiotic but his former boss, Hudson Bradshaw, files suit claiming that James developed the formula while in his employ. James' wife, Natalie, then begins selling her stock to Bradshaw which would give him control of the new company. James vows to stop his wife at any cost and she turns up dead. James claims that he was fishing at the time the murder occurred but things go from awful to good grief when he can't find the fellow fisherman who can substantiate his story.
20-year-old Deborah Dearborn has just written a best selling novel about a cold and calculating woman who bears a strong resemblance to her boyfriend's stepmother. Now Deborah is living at a beach house in Malibu and in the process of selling the rights to her book to a movie producer. Then the stepmother, Stephanie Carew, appears on the scene threatening to sue for libel. When Stephanie's dead body is found floating in a swimming pool, Deborah is charged with the crime.
Grover Johnson manages somehow to talk his much younger bride Eula into living with him on a barren spread of ranch land. Needless to say, Eula hates it and can't wait to sell the property. Along comes wealthy Texas Nelson Barcliff who's ready, willing, and able to purchase the property. But is this big Texan really who he appears to be? Or is it just an elaborate real estate swindle cooked up by Eula? Either way, both Eula and Barcliff end up dead and Grover finds himself charged with Eula's murder.
Three teens cruise Hollywood Boulevard in a cool convertible lookin' for kicks! A liquor store goes down and the blackmail and plot twists begin. Lies and more lies and it's going from bad to worse for young Timmy Balfour who soon discovers that there's every bit as much delinquency from the adults when he's charged with murder.
Gwynn Elston's best friend, Nell Grimes, asks her to move in with her due to the fact that Nell's husband, Felton, is often out of town on business. Gwynn, who has a door-to-door sales job, is then astonished to see Felton's picture in someone else's house where he's known as Frank Gillette. Felton, who's really a nasty mother, tries to poison Gwynn, when she confronts him but she survives and runs to Perry for help. Then Felton is found shot to death and things go from awful to good grief for poor Gwynn--she gets arrested for the crime.
Crude but wealthy art connisseur Otto Olney throws a party to celebrate his purchasing a painting by famed artist Gauguin. Then a party guest, art expert Colin Durant, says that the painting is actually a fake. Olney then goes to Perry who decides to sue Durant for libel. Durant then claims he never said anything regarding the painting and the only witness, an art student named Maxine Lindsay, confirms his story. Perry then discovers the dead body of Austin Durant, fully clothed, in the shower of Maxine's apartment. Paul Drake then tracks down Maxine but the police are right behind him and they arrest her for murder. Guess who she hires to defend her?