The story focuses on a group of passengers aboard
The Chief running from
Los Angeles to
Chicago, where they plan to catch the onward
20th Century to the
East Coast. They include the powerful
Hollywood film mogul Vivien Spender as well as his leading
star Kitten Agnew, a cynical
bandleader, an
alcoholic newspaperman as well as Gloria, the innocent, former
librarian who Spender has chosen to replace Kitten. However, Kitten refuses to be abandoned the way Spender has dumped countless earlier protegees and has incriminating information against him. She becomes increasingly fearful of Spender, who behind his urbane facade, is ruthless enough to kill her to get rid of her. As the train passes through
Kansas, Kitten is discovered dead in her compartment. The other passengers decide to stand up to Spender and expose him as the murderer of both Kitten and his first wife. Rather than let this happen, Spender's ever loyal
secretary chooses to take matters into her own hands. ==References==