her home as promised, he gives her cab fare instead. The next morning, Dix is awakened by his friend, police detective Brub Nicolai, who served under Dix during the war. Nicolai takes him downtown to be questioned by his superior, Captain Lochner, who reveals that Mildred was murdered and informs Dix that he is a suspect. Dix remembers that Laurel saw him letting Mildred out of his apartment, which Laurel confirms when brought in for questioning. Afterwards Dix strikes up conversation with Laurel and their mutual attraction is evident. When he gets home, Dix checks up on Laurel. He finds she is an aspiring actress with only a few low-budget films to her credit. They begin to fall in love and, with Laurel assisting him, Dix enthusiastically goes back to work, much to Mel’s delight. At a dinner with Nicolai and his wife Sylvia, Dix has them re-enact the murder as he imagines it; his odd behavior leads Sylvia to doubt his innocence. Captain Lochner meets with Laurel again and sows seeds of doubt in her mind, pointing out Dix’s record of violent behavior. Laurel confides in Sylvia her growing doubts about Dix. At a nightclub with Laurel, Dix spots Ted Barton, another detective, arriving with a female companion. Dix angrily leaves, believing that Barton is tailing him. Later, Laurel’s masseuse Martha warns her about Dix’s chequered romantic past, and Laurel grows irritated, kicking her out of the apartment. At a beach party with the Nicolais, Sylvia inadvertently reveals Laurel’s follow-up meeting with Lochner; Dix furiously storms off. Laurel follows and gets into Dix’s car; he drives erratically and at speed until they sideswipe another car. Nobody is hurt, but when the other driver accosts him, Dix beats him unconscious and is about to strike him with a large rock when Laurel stops him. Dix goes to the police station and attempts to clear his name, inadvertently meeting Mildred’s boyfriend Henry Kesler, who works at a bank. Dix remarks to Nicolai that Kesler is a better suspect as he has a motive. At the Nicolai residence, Laurel asks Sylvia about Dix prompting the Nicolais to re-enact the murder, and tells her about Dix’s roadside assault. Eventually, Laurel’s doubts about Dix’s innocence result in her being unable to sleep without taking pills. When he asks her to marry him, she accepts, but only because she is scared of how he might