Stroud evades the dragnet by various maneuvers, finally hiding in the clock. Building security men sweep the building to find the wanted man. All exits from the building are sealed, and the building's occupants must leave by the main door, with the witnesses watching for the mystery man. Stroud slips away before the witness identifies him to the investigators, who now know that the mystery man is in the building but do not know his identity. Stroud tries to avoid the witnesses, but one of them sees and recognizes him as the mystery man. Asked to paint a portrait of the mystery man, she produces a modernist abstract of blobs and swirls. One is eccentric artist Louise Patterson, who created the painting that Stroud purchased. The witnesses are brought to the Janoth Building. He must also secretly conduct his own investigation to prove Janoth's guilt.Įventually York is identified by the Crimeways team and witnesses are found who saw her on the town with the mystery man. He reluctantly agrees to return to his job and lead the manhunt, to Georgette's disappointment.ĭuring the manhunt, Stroud must appear to lead the investigation diligently while also preventing the investigation from identifying him as the culprit. He discloses enough details for Stroud to know that the mystery man is Stroud himself. Janoth calls to rehire him in order to lead the effort to find the mystery man (without any mention of York). Stroud has since caught up with his wife and son in West Virginia and tells her that he has been fired, but leaves out his adventures with York. Janoth decides to use the resources of Crimeways to find the man instead of calling the police. However, Hagen convinces him that they can frame the man whom Janoth saw leaving York's apartment for the crime. Janoth goes to his assistant Hagen and tells him what happened, intending to surrender to the police and confess. Janoth assumes that York is cheating on him, leading to a quarrel in which he strikes York with the sundial, killing her. Janoth sees someone leaving but does not recognize Stroud in the dark. Stroud and York go to her apartment, but York sees Janoth arriving and Stroud leaves. Stroud spends the evening drinking with York, and he buys a painting and a sundial. When Stroud loses track of time and misses the train for West Virginia, Georgette angrily leaves without him. Stroud goes to a bar to drink and is distracted by the attentions of Janoth's glamorous mistress Pauline York, who proposes a blackmail plan against Janoth. His tyrannical boss Earl Janoth wants him to stay to pursue a missing-person story that Stroud has just cracked, but Stroud refuses and Janoth fires him. Thirty-six hours earlier, Stroud is eager to embark on a long-postponed honeymoon in Wheeling, West Virginia with his wife Georgette and son.
The clock dominates the lobby of the Janoth Publications building in New York City, where Stroud works. George Stroud, editor-in-chief of Crimeways magazine, hides from building security inside the "big clock," which is the largest and most sophisticated clock ever built.
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