Three Hours to Kill (1954)

Plotzle Expert · Puzzle #3 · April 30, 2026 · Western / Mystery

Six plot descriptions for Three Hours to Kill (1954). One is the real plot. Five are convincing fakes. Read them and guess which is real.

1. A bounty hunter tracks a deserter through three border towns but each witness describes a different man and the sheriff reveals the wanted poster was drawn from a fever dream.
2. A stagecoach driver carries a locked strongbox containing evidence that could exonerate a jailed outlaw but the passenger beside him is the actual killer's brother who knows what's inside.
3. A man returns after three years on the run bearing a rope scar from a near-lynching, determined to find the real murderer who framed him within a three-hour deadline set by the sheriff.
4. A cattle baron's youngest son discovers his father poisoned a neighboring rancher's water supply and rides to the rival homestead to confess before the retaliatory ambush begins at dawn.
5. A hangman loses his nerve after recognizing a condemned prisoner from his childhood and wanders the territory accepting odd jobs while the noose he abandoned becomes a traveling exhibit in saloons.
6. A widow inherits her husband's saloon and finds his ledger documenting bribes paid to the marshal while the funeral guests drink downstairs and his mistress demands her share of the estate.