Senior
barrister Sir Wilfrid Robarts is nearing retirement after a
heart attack. He agrees to defend Leonard Vole, despite Nurse Plimsoll's objections and Sir Wilfrid's doctor having warned against taking stressful criminal cases. Leonard is accused of murdering Emily French, a wealthy, childless widow who fell in love with him and named him as the main beneficiary in her will. Despite the evidence, Sir Wilfrid believes his client to be innocent. Sir Wilfrid speaks with Leonard's German wife, Christine, whom he finds cold and self-possessed; she provides a not entirely plausible alibi. He is later shocked when Christine is called to give evidence against Leonard as a prosecution witness. While a wife cannot be
compelled to testify against her husband, it is revealed that her marriage to Leonard is invalid, as she was already married to another man, Otto Helm, still alive and living in Germany. She states that she never loved Leonard, and her conscience compels her to tell the truth. She explains that she had a marriage ceremony with Leonard, a
Royal Air Force sergeant serving in Berlin's
British occupation zone, solely to escape from
Soviet-controlled territory to the West. According to her testimony, Leonard arrived home after the time of the murder and confessed that he had killed Mrs. French. While fearing his client will be convicted and
sentenced to hang, Sir Wilfrid is unexpectedly contacted by a woman who offers to sell him letters written by Christine to a lover named Max. The handwriting is genuine, and the woman has a legitimate reason for providing the letters: her lover attacked and disfigured her face. During cross examination, Sir Wilfrid reads the letters, which disclose a conspiracy between Max and Christine to
frame Leonard. The jury acquits Leonard. Sir Wilfrid's uneasiness proves justified when Christine, brought into the courtroom to protect her from the departing crowd, explains how she won the acquittal. After Sir Wilfrid had previously told Christine that a jury would not believe a loving spouse's alibi, she posed as a hateful, double-crossing wife. She also wrote letters to a non-existent lover (Max) and impersonated the disfigured woman who gave Sir Wilfrid the letters to discredit her own testimony. Christine loves Leonard, but knew he was guilty. Christine told the truth about the murder in the witness-box: Leonard did confess to her. Sir Wilfrid is outraged, but the law of
double jeopardy prevents any renewed prosecution of Leonard. Leonard reveals he is having an affair with a much younger woman and intends to abandon Christine. He smugly states that though Christine will be tried for
perjury, he and she are now even, having saved each other's lives. A devastated Christine grabs a knife and fatally stabs Leonard. As she is taken into custody, Sir Wilfrid decides to further delay his retirement to defend Christine. ==Cast==