An art collector, Rufus Varner, is told by a reputable art critic that one of his most prized art paintings named ""The Purple Woman"" is a forgery. Varner visits the art dealer from whom he purchased the painting, Milo Girard. After he finds out the dealer knew it was a forgery, he realizes the news would damage his reputation as an art collector. At the Girard home, an artist Aaron Hubble, tells Evelyn Girard, the wife of the art dealer, that he painted a forgery of The Purple Woman for her husband. Milo Girard is found dead in his office the next morning and his wife Evelyn is charged with his murder.