While pursuing an eloping heiress, big city reporter Bill Bennett and photographer "Candid" Perry are stopped by a pretty woman, whose car has run out of gas on the highway. After Bill and Candid promise to return with fuel, they track the heiress to the small town of Middleton and witness her secret marriage. Later, Bill becomes interested in Jud Parker, the marriage license clerk, who boasts to him that none of the couples whom he has served has ever filed for divorce. Sure that Jud's perfect record will make for a good human interest story, Bill interviews the clerk at his home and is introduced to his daughter Nancy, who turns out to be the stranded motorist. Although Nancy angrily snubs him for forgetting to deliver the promised gas, Bill determines to win her heart and remains in town with Candid. Curious about one of Middleton's citizens, Joe Selby, a known racketeer, Bill and Candid visit his roadhouse, where Nancy and her boyfriend, lawyer Lloyd Wilson, are also dining. Unknown to Bill, Selby and Middleton's corrupt police chief have planned a phony raid on the gambling club in order to satisfy the town's demand for a crack-down on local vice. During the raid, Bill saves Nancy from arrest, while Candid unwittingly knocks out Lloyd. The next day, Bill's story about Jud appears in his newspaper, and Jud, dubbed "Cupid" in the article, becomes the laughingstock of Middleton. Furious, Nancy again rejects Bill, but two weeks later, eloping couples, eager to have their marriage license prepared by the lucky clerk, pour into Middleton, making Jud a respected celebrity and Middleton, a boom town. Buoyed by his success, Bill proposes marriage to a forgiving Nancy and promises to make Jud the mayor of Middleton. As Jud's campaign manager, Bill pushes a reform platform and causes Frisbee, the crooked incumbent mayor, to worry. To keep Jud from winning, Frisbee plots with Selby and Lloyd to have Jud seen talking to Bella Lawson, Selby's moll, by the town gossip. Wise to Frisbee's scheming, Bill confidently advises Jud to play along with his foe until he is able to expose him. When Jud shows up at the roadhouse, supposedly to issue a marriage license to Bella and Selby, he is surprised by the arrival of gangster Frankie Spencer, whom Bella had betrayed with Selby. After Selby shoots and kills Frankie, Jud, who was knocked out during the struggle, is framed for the killing. Spurned by Nancy, Bill vows to clear Jud's name and, after hearing that two shots were fired, goes with Candid to the roadhouse to search for the second gun. Although Candid is ambushed while escaping with photographs of Selby holding Frankie's gun, he uses Jud's dog to deliver the life-saving negatives, and both Jud and Bill are vindicated.