A false alarm at Everard Hope's home leads to a fatal tumble down the staircase by the miserly owner. The assembled relations are flabberghasted when Hope's lawyer informs them that he had remade his will, and none of them stand to inherit. The entire estate goes to a quiet, dowdy, sheltered spinster named Dorothea Capper - however, there's a condition. Miss Capper won't receive her inheritance until 30 days have passed, giving somebody time to ensure she doesn't live to inherit.