When Gilbert Archer, a noted New York newspaper columnist, learns that his childhood mentor, Father Walsh, is troubled by a strange affair that involves locating a pair of Bibles and a valuable painting known as "The Walls of Jericho," he goes to the rectory to confer with the priest. There he finds Father Walsh's sister Catherine in a state of hysterical grief, her brother dead, the victim of an apparent suicide. Knowing that his friend would never take his own life, Archer suspects murder and decides to investigate. Soon after, Capt. Griffin of the homicide squad and his assistant, Det. Regan, arrive, followed by Bishop Martin. A girl calling herself Patricia Foster then appears at the rectory, claiming to have had an appointment with Father Walsh. Suspicious of Patricia, Archer invites her to dinner, hoping that he may be able to learn something about the murder. At the café, Archer secretly has the girl sketched, and after she leaves in a cab, refusing to divulge her destination, he has the vehicle followed. Archer sends the sketch to a Boston newspaper after noticing a label in the girl's coat indicating that it was purchased in a Boston store. Archer also requests that his own newspaper include his name in connection with the story of Father Walsh's death. Soon after, Archer is visited by Matthew Stoker and his wife, who express an interest in the missing Bibles and try to make a deal with the columnist. Next on the list of Archer's callers is Ernst Helms, who claims to be Patricia's father and asks his help in obtaining the Bibles. From the Boston newspaper, Archer discovers that Patricia is really Laura Browning, a member of a prominent Massachusetts family. Realizing that he is falling in love with Laura, Archer seeks her out. Laura breaks down and finally admits her identity to Archer, telling him that her grandfather, an art collector who owned "The Walls of Jericho" painting, died in Father Walsh's home twenty-five years earlier. Laura continues that the Bibles contain a coded message that reveals the location of the missing painting. Soon after, Archer receives a message to come to the office of attorney George Bradford, who pretends to represent Helms. Upon returning to his apartment, Archer discovers that Catherine has been murdered and that a Bible in her possession is missing. When Bishop Martin reveals that the second Bible was buried with the body of Laura's grandfather, Archer retrieves the book and begins to piece together the clues, deducing that together the Stokers and Bradford murdered Father Walsh and his sister. The police then arrest them, and after retrieving the Bible they stole from Catherine, Archer deciphers the code which leads them to the painting, hidden within the walls of the rectory. The crime solved, Archer proposes to Laura, with the condition that she sell the painting before they are married.