- Back up to the newspaper room, where Louie brings Hildy the money from Walter.
- Hildy gets the money, and Bruce's wallet (yep, Louie stole that too).
- Lot of tough talk here. She and Louie banter almost as well as she and Walter banter.
- Then she scares Louie off by telling him to go to the police station to get Bruce.
- Hildy is calling the precinct when Earl Williams comes through the window.
- He looks upset, and he has a gun. (This is the dramatic part of the film, y'all.)
- A shade on the window goes up on its own. Earl shoots at it, and his gun is out of bullets. Hildy takes the gun away from him.
- Earl starts whining about how he doesn't care if he's caught, but Hildy runs around trying to make sure he's hidden. She closes the door and puts down the shades.
- She calls Walter, and Bruce calls her at the same time.
- She's going back and forth between the phones explaining to both that she's captured Earl. Walter is pleased (though we don't see him). Bruce wants her to come get him out of jail already (though we don't see him either).
- There's a banging on the door, and it's Molly.
- Hildy tries to get her to go away, but Earl calls out to her, so Hildy has to bring her in.
- The reporters come back and, just in time, Molly and Hildy shove Earl into a roll top desk.
- Molly pretends to have fainted to explain why she's there.
- The reporters call their papers and tell them that Earl wasn't really at the stakeout.
- So everyone speculates that Earl might still be in the building, while Hildy tries to get them to go away (but subtly) so she can get Earl out of the desk.
- Then Bruce's mother shows up. She's not pleased with Hildy, since she's left her son to rot in the jail.
- (She does have a point.)
- Mrs. Baldwin mentions that Hildy caught a murderer (Bruce told her), and the reporters want to know what's up with that.
- There's much confusion.
- Meanwhile Molly says she knows where Earl is.
- She gets more and more hysterical and then she jumps out the window.
- Which seems a little unlikely, but the scriptwriters wanted action (maybe?).
- She doesn't die though; all the newspaper guys run downstairs to where she's lying.
- Walter shows up with Louie and gets Hildy to show him where Earl is.
- Mrs. Baldwin wants to know what's happening, so Walter has Louie kidnap her and take her away.
- Hildy tries to go after them, but Walter stops her.
- Walter convinces her that this is the story of a lifetime, and is a chance to expose the corrupt politicians and get them out of office.
- Hildy's sold.
- Her ambition can make her a little gullible.
- Or a lot gullible.
- Anyway, she's on board and the two of them set about trying to figure out how to get Earl out of the office.
- Walter calls Duffy to try to work on getting the desk out of there. Hildy starts to write her story.
- Walter orders Duffy to tear up the front page.
- And Bruce comes in. He tries to get Hildy to listen to him, but she's too enraptured in her story.
- He tells her he's going to leave on the train, and that she doesn't love him, and that she's not decent.
- She doesn't really hear him, which is maybe just as well, because he's being kind of a jerk (though admittedly he's had a bad day).
- They're all three talking at once: it's a barrage of babble; a whirl of words. Lots of talk.
- Hildy gives Bruce his money and his wallet, and finally he leaves telling her he's going on the 9:00 train.
- Though he doesn't know where his mother is—how's that going to work?
- Earl tries to get out of the desk, but Walter tells him to get back in there.
- Walter tells him to only come out if he taps three times on the desk.
- Hildy asks Walter where Bruce is; she was too distracted to notice he left. Walter brushes her off.
- Benzinger of the Tribune, another reporter, knocks on the door; it's his desk Earl is locked in.
- Walter opens the door, hires him away from the Tribune, and sends him away before he can get to his desk and find Earl.
- Benzinger trots off, and Hildy suddenly realizes that Bruce left for the 9:00 train, and that that train is gone (what happened to his mother, though?).
- Louie comes in; he said he had a car accident when his cab (with Mrs. Baldwin) ran into a cop car.
- Hildy thinks Mrs. Baldwin is dead, which seems like it'll interfere with her marriage plans.
- Hildy gets on the phone to call police stations and find out if she can find Mrs. Baldwin.
- Walter sends Louie off to find men to help move the desk.
- Hildy gets her things and goes to try to find Mrs. Baldwin.
- But, just as she's about to get out the door, the Sheriff and all the newspaper guys come bustling in, demanding to know where Earl Williams is.
- The Sheriff interrogates her while the newspaper guys hold her.
- In the struggle the gun she got from Williams falls out; the Sheriff inadvertently reveals it's his gun.
- He's not the smartest pickle in the barrel.
- Anyway, the Sheriff threatens to arrest Walter and Hildy for obstructing justice. He also threatens to impound the desk and take it out of the building.
- Walter dares him to do it, figuring that's the best way to get Earl out.
- But before they can start, police show up with Mrs. Baldwin, who accuses Walter of kidnapping her.
- The Sheriff says to call the Mayor.
- Walter denies that he kidnapped Mrs. Baldwin, and suggests that she must have been drunk.
- Mrs. Baldwin says that Walter was hiding a murderer. Walter denies it, bangs on the desk, and Earl Williams bangs back.
- Hartwell threatens to shoot through the desk; Mrs. Baldwin runs out into the arms of Bruce, who's finally found her. Then the police slam the door.
- The newspaper guys all call their papers to tell them the big news. Reporting on news; it's what newspaper guys do.
- The police handcuff Walter and Hildy for obstructing justice.
- The press folks all scamper out to find Mrs. Baldwin.
- The Mayor comes in and gloats about how he's going to put Walter and Hildy in prison.
- It all looks like it's all over for our heroes.
- But!
- Pettibone comes in again with the pardon, and announces he can't be bribed.
- The Mayor has been caught trying to hang a pardoned man… so he lets Walter and Hildy go in the hopes they'll overlook it.
- Everyone bustles out except for Walter and Hildy.
- Hildy starts to reminisce about other scrapes they've been in, but Walter encourages her to go meet Bruce in Albany and get out of the newspaper business.
- Then the phone rings; it's for Hildy.
- It's Bruce; he's been arrested for having counterfeit money.
- Hildy breaks down and starts to cry.
- Walter is upset (music starts to play…that's how you know it's almost at the end).
- Hildy says she was upset because Walter was sending her away and that he didn't care about her any more.
- Hildy says they'll get Bruce out of jail and send him off to Albany.
- Walter calls Duffy and tells him that Hildy is going to write the story, and that they're going to get married.
- Hildy is excited and says they should honeymoon in Niagara Falls.
- But Duffy says there's a strike in Albany—and Hildy sadly agrees that they'll have their honeymoon in Albany.
- Walter jokes that they can stay with Bruce.
- And that's the end. Happiness for all. More or less.