Build a movie plot around this: Who do Nick and Nora visit ? Nick's parents.
Nick and Nora visit Nick's parents (Lucile Watson and Harry Davenport) in Nick's hometown, Sycamore Springs, in New England. The residents are convinced that Nick is in town on an investigation, despite Nick's repeated denials. However, when aircraft factory employee Peter Berton (Ralph Brooks) seeks out Nick and is shot dead before he can reveal anything, Nick is on the case.An old childhood friend, Dr. Bruce Clayworth (Lloyd Corrigan), performs the autopsy and extracts a pistol bullet. Then, when Nick searches Berton's room for clues, he is knocked unconscious by Crazy Mary (Anne Revere), a local eccentric.Nora's innocent purchase of a painting for Nick's birthday present turns out to be the key to the mystery. When she shows it to her husband, it brings back unpleasant memories for him, so she donates it to a charity bazaar. When Edgar Draque (Leon Ames) offers Nora a large sum for the painting, Nick wonders why it is so valuable. Nick learns that Draque's wife Helena (Helen Vinson) bought the artwork, but she is knocked out and the painting disappears. Nick discovers that Crazy Mary is Berton's mother and goes to see her, only to come across her lifeless body. Nick and Nora's dog Asta finds the painting in her shack.Nick puts the pieces together and has the police bring all the suspects to his father's house. (Early on, it is revealed that Nick's father, Dr. Bertram Charles, has never been overly impressed with his son's unusual career choice, so this gives Nick an opportunity to change his father's mind.) Using Dr. Charles's fluoroscope, Nick shows that there is a blueprint hidden underneath the paint. Several people identify it as part of the specifications for a new aircraft propeller worth a great deal to a "foreign power". Berton had copied the blueprints and concealed the copies under five paintings. He had a change of heart and was going to confess all to Nick, but was killed by the spies he was dealing with. Nick has a souvenir World War II Japanese sniper rifle belonging to Dr. Clayworth's...