An ex-con who has been convicted of murder and bank robbery has just nine days left before his execution, but fortunately for him, Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) volunteers to help prove his innocence before time runs out. The man had been convicted largely based on the fact that his fingerprints were found at the scene of the crime, though he swears he wasn’t involved. Could fingerprints be faked? Charlie’s investigation takes him to the boarding house where the ex-con had lived, along with many other suspicious characters, and to the prison where he had served his time. The latter location gives scope for the humorous interplay between Mantan Moreland and Ben Carter (as previously seen in The Scarlet Clue), and this time around Sidney Toler joins in at the end as well.

Recommended.