- Having been tricked into buying a share of a steamboat instead of the whole boat, Bret and his co-owners sail the boat up the Mississippi to an interested purchaser. Along the way, however, the co-owners start dying one by one.
- As Bret rides to St. Louis after losing everything but his cherished one thousand-dollar-bill, he hears a man calling for help. When Bret investigates, he discovers that the man has been strung up by his heels. Once Bret frees him, the man introduces himself as Gillespie McKenzie and tells Bret that he made the mistake of flashing his money in St. Louis. Three men saw it and robbed him on the road. Gillespie offers Bret the deed for what he describes as a large white paddle-wheeler, the Cynthia B but Bret isn't interested, particularly when Gillespie says that he needs $1,000 for traveling expenses. Gillespie claims that the paddle-wheeler is worth 40 times that, but Bret starts to ride off. However, when Gillespie tells him that it's a floating casino, Bret takes an interest. After giving Gillespie the $1,000, Bret rides to the docks of St. Louis and tries to collect his paddle-wheeler. However, he discovers that the Cynthia B is a wreck, barely able to stay afloat. Bret goes to the office of the dock owner, Meacham, who isn't surprised by Bret's presence. Meacham leads Bret into his office, where four men and a woman are gathered. One man, Quincy T. Smith, introduces himself and then explains that Gillespie suckered each of them into paying money for a deed for the Cynthia B.
The other victims, Mrs. Ambrosia Tutwiler, Rutherford Carr, Montgomery Teague, and Jefferson Cantrell, each introduce themselves. Quincy then offers all of the owners $300 each for their deeds. Bret suspects a set-up and Meacham confirms that shipping magnate Abner Morton of Memphis has recently announced that in four days he's finally ending his search for a stern-wheeler, the Orleans Princess. Quincy and Meacham are both aware that Morton is offering $20,000, and that the Cynthia B is actually the Orleans Princess. Morton had the ship built as a riverboat racer but lost track of it and would rather pay $20,000 to recover it than considerably more to rebuild from scratch. The others want a share of the $20,000 and Cantrell says that he can pilot the ship and that they need two stokers. The others agree, but Bret reads the newspaper article on the Cynthia B and points out that the previous six owners all died under mysterious circumstances and their new property is reputed to be a death ship.
As the party leaves Meacham's office, a woman spots Bret and calls to him. It's Modesty Blaine, a con woman that Bret previously met while shipping cats to the mining town of Paradise. She smugly offers to find him a job aboard her new floating casino and Bret is pleased to inform her that she is now the seventh owner of the Cynthia B, and that it's a wreck. As they board the ship and talk, someone rolls a barrel down a nearby ladder. Bret just manages to get out of the way, avoiding a nasty accident and the others come out to investigate the noise. Bret says that it probably wasn't an accident and explains that Modesty is also an owner. Quincy comes up from the boiler room and tells them that they have a head of steam and Cantrell goes to the wheelhouse and navigates the Cynthia B out into the Mississippi. As the owners gather on the deck to watch the Mississippi go by, Montgomery grows increasingly nervous, muttering about the curse. Mrs. Tutwiler leads Modesty to the galley to prepare a meal while Quincy brings up the two stokers, Jim and Gus. The stokers intimidate Montgomery and Carr, who quickly leave, and Quincy tells Bret that he discovered that someone tied down a safety valve. However, the culprit made a blatant job of it and Quincy figures that someone is trying to scare them off.
As the Cynthia B continues downriver to Memphis, the owners gather for a meal. Cantrell explains that Carr is taking a turn at the wheel and takes offense when Bret asks him about the situation. Bret apologizes but then insults Modesty's cooking, and she runs out onto the deck, crying. He goes after he and Modesty says that she's a woman. When Bret tells her that she's beautiful, Modesty first slaps him for insulting her cooking and then kisses him for complimenting her. Mrs. Tutwiler goes by on her evening watch and Modesty tells Bret that she knows just where Mrs. Tutwiler and the others keep their deeds. She suggests that they steal the others' deeds so she and Bret can split the $20,000, but he isn't interested.
On the upper deck, Mrs. Tutwiler is at the railing when a man comes out and tries to grab her ownership pages from her handbag. When she fights back, Mrs. Tutwiler steps backward into the railing, which breaks off, plummeting her into the Mississippi. Bret tells Carr to stop the ship and dives into the water, but can only find her hat. Montgomery insists that the ship is cursed, while Carr takes satisfaction in the fact they'll get more money. Bret takes offense and Carr suggests that Maverick might have shoved Mrs. Tutwiler overboard. The gambler slaps him to the deck and an angry Carr warns that Mrs. Tutwiler might not be the last owner to meet with an accident.
The cruise continues uneventfully for two days. However, the night before they're to arrive in Memphis, Bret wakes up and finds Modesty in his cabin, going through his coat pockets. He sends her on her way, ignoring her claims that she was scared, and warns her that she'll be the first person he searches if someone reports a missing deed. Bret dozes off again but wakes up when a fully-clothed man enters his room and searches his coat. He figures that it's Modesty at first, but the intruder draws a knife and attacks him. After a brief fighter, the intruder escapes and Bret wakes up Modesty to tell her what happened. Montgomery and Quincy come out, and Bret points out that Montgomery is in a nightshirt but Quincy is fully dressed. Quincy claims that he just came from the engine room and that Jim and Gus can vouch for him. Bret figures that one of the owners plans to steal the deeds and destroy them, preventing them from proving they are owners.
When the quartet realizes that Carr isn't present, they go to his cabin. Inside they find Carr, dead from a knife wound. Bret suggests that they keep Cantrell in the dark for the time being and let him pilot the ship, and that they finish dressing and meet in the dining salon. As they leave, Montgomery starts to go with Quincy, but Bret asks if he's really sure that the man is innocent. Quincy objects and points out that they have no proof that Bret is innocent, either.
Bret arrives at the dining salon first. Montgomery comes in a few seconds later and Bret realizes that he must have been dressed beneath the nightshirt, meaning Montgomery has no alibi. Quincy comes in next and accuses Bret of faking the attack, and Modesty comes in last. Bret suggests that they assume that they're all innocent, and Quincy confirms that the stokers were with him when Carr died. They suspect that Cantrell lashed the wheel and then killed Carr, and did the same thing earlier to dispose of Mrs. Tutwiler. However, without proof there's nothing they can do. Bret suggests that they wait until morning when they arrive in Memphis and let the authorities deal with it.
The Cynthia B. hits the river bank and the group runs to the wheelhouse. Bret manages to pull the paddle-wheeler away from the shore and they realize that Cantrell has disappeared. They figure that Cantrell killed the others and is hiding, and that they should stay where they are and let the killer come to them. As Bret steers the ship, Quincy asks him for his gun. Bret tosses it to him but misses and it falls into the river. Montgomery opens the closet door to hide and finds Cantrell's corpse inside, stabbed to death just like Carr.
Bret figures that given how the current is running, Cantrell couldn't have been away from the wheel more than 20 minutes, and points out that they've been together for at least 30 minutes since Carr was killed. Quincy is forced to admit that the stokers are the only remaining suspects. However, Gillespie arrives with a gun and captures all of them. He explains that he boarded the ship before it departed and hid in the aft storage locker. Gillespie didn't initially plan to kill anyone, and first tried to scare off Bret and Modesty with the barrel, and later jammed the safety valve to frighten Quincy. The conman explains that after he sold the deeds, he read the article about Norton and realized that he had to destroy the seven copies. Mrs. Tutwiler's death was an accident and her deed was lost in the river. Gillespie then had to kill Carr and Cantrell to get their deeds and destroy them.
First Montgomery, then Bret, and then Quincy hand over their deeds. Modesty removes hers from her garter belt and hands it over, and Gillespie tosses them all into the river. Since he still has the original, he now has the only claim on the Cynthia B. Bret points out that he can't hold them all prisoner to maintain their silence and negotiate with Norton, and then calls out to the stokers, telling them to grab Norton. Gillespie laughs, saying that he forced them overboard three miles back, and that now the others have to jump. Montgomery insists that he can't jump and Gillespie sympathizes, saying that he can't either but that Montgomery will learn quickly. When Montgomery goes to the railing, Quincy jumps Gillespie. They fight and Gillespie falls over the railing and drowns.
The next morning, the Cynthia B. arrives in Memphis and Bret and Modesty go to see Morton. He admits he's had second thoughts about remodeling the ship and points out that since the title papers went down with Gillespie, they have no proof that they ever owned the ship. As the couple leave, Bart storms in and shows Norton his own forged copy of the title papers. He claims that he won the ship in a poker game and saw the article. As Bret and Modesty watch from outside, Norton reluctantly Bart the $20,000. As Bart leaves, Bret and Modesty collar him and explain that they'll split the $20,000 five ways with Montgomery and Quincy.
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