In both the novella and films, she meets her husband's
insurance agent, Walter Neff (
Fred MacMurray) to help her
murder her husband. They first trick her husband, Mr. Dietrichson, into signing a life insurance policy without his knowledge. The policy has a
double indemnity clause whereby the
company agrees to pay double the face amount in the contract in cases of accidental death. They later murder her husband and try to make it seem like an accident on a train in an attempt to invoke the policy's double indemnity clause. Although they succeed, Phyllis soon runs into problems in trying to invoke the clause and collect the money. The next day, much to her dismay, Phyllis finds out that the company has refused to pay the double indemnity clause for they did not know about Mr. Dietrichson's broken leg before his death. Their suspicions catch the attention of Neff's boss, Barton Keyes, who encourages them to investigate, making both her and Neff nervous. Phyllis realizes too late that Dietrichson eventually found out about her plan to murder him and changed his will to spite her. He left the inheritance to his daughter (her
stepdaughter), Lola and thus leaving her with nothing. Phyllis knows her stepdaughter is a threat to her because Lola suspects her of murdering her father in a similar manner to her mother, and tries to get Neff to kill Lola (which fails after he befriends Lola and learns more about her family's tragic past). Phyllis must also contend with the inquisitive Keyes, who suspects she was involved in the murder of Mr. Dietrichson; he believes her accomplice was Nino, whom she was secretly meeting. She tries to kill Neff to clean up any loose ends, but can't fire the last shot because she has fallen in love with him. Neff does not believe Phyllis, calling her a rotten, manipulative woman, and shoots her dead her in the ensuing struggle. After killing her, Neff meets Nino outside and convinces him not to go inside the house, but to the woman who truly loves him. After doing so, a wounded Neff returns to his place of work and confesses to his wrongdoing in his office, via
Dictaphone. Keyes comes in and overhears his confession that he murdered both Mr. Dietrichson and Phyllis. He informs Neff that the police are coming over to arrest him for the murders. As he tries to escape, planning to live out his life in Mexico rather than face the
death penalty, Neff collapses to the floor near the elevator. Keyes offers him a cigarette, as they wait for the police to arrest Neff for killing the couple. ==Casting==