The hotel is host to a beauty contest. Among the contestants is Miranda Harding, whose mother Barbara, a former beauty contestant herself, has entered her reluctant daughter in pageants since the age of three. When contest judge Garrett Rhodes makes a pass at her, Miranda gives in, thinking she's doing as her mother wishes. A quarrel with her mother later prompts Miranda to take responsibility for her own life. Miranda announces the judge's retirement at an appropriate moment during the contest and wins the pageant. Meanwhile, Frank ""Squire"" Vance, a professional thief who once saved security chief Billy's life, checks into the hotel. Squire has designs on Julie, who is a clerk, and on the hotel safe as well, leaving Billy struggling with mixed emotions about his true loyalties. As Julie begins to fall for Squire's charm, Squire pulls a gun and forces her into the vault where Hal, a bonded courier, is removing two-million dollars in blank industrial certificates. As Squire takes the co

Two precocious youngsters, Sara, 12, and Ben, 11, check in with their industrious father and their governess, Miss Oliver. Ben and Sara play a prank on Billy by faking an intruder attack. After Ben and Sara overhear an argument punctuated by a pistol shot, they see someone in a Burberry coat sprinting away. They find a dead woman's body in the front seat of a car, but when they take their father to the scene, the body is gone. When they inform Billy, he walks away. Christine's aunt Addie, a wealthy widow, is in town for a reunion with her lover Luke. After Peter exposes Luke as a hustler, Christine informs Addie about Luke's questionable character. Already aware of Luke's hustling, Addie chastises her niece for meddling. Ben sees Miss Oliver in a Burberry coat and is convinced that she is the murderer. Ben and Sara uncover evidence that she has killed the real Miss Oliver and has assumed her identity. As the impostor attempts to kidnap Sara at gunpoint, the police and Billy arrest her.

Actress Marion Thorne is on location at the hotel for a film being produced by Daniel Kingsford, her long time lover. When Daniel is called away, young screenwriter Tom Jordan woos Marion, asking her to be his wife even after she reveals that she will soon be blind due to a degenerating optic nerve. Honored as the city's woman-of-the-year, Christine ponders the pitfalls of a political career as consultant John Granger assures her he could manage a winning congressional campaign for her. A skid row bum, Anthony Sheridan, once a famous leading man, watches the proceedings on the movie set. Bellman Dave, a movie buff, recognizes Sheridan and convinces film director Victor Polito to audition the actor for a bit part. Sheridan shows up drunk and belligerent, but later has an opportunity to redeem himself with a beautifully recited Shakespeare soliloquy.