The White Lie (1918)

Gordon Kingsley lives happily with his wife Dorothy and little daughter Mary Jane. However, when he visits the home of San Francisco architect Frank Mason, he is stunned to find a portrait of his own wife and daughter. Suspecting the worst of Dorothy, he hires a private detective. Soon after, Gordon asks Frank to design his new house, and Dorothy, fearing that he knows of her association with Frank, slips the latter a note arranging a private visit in his apartment. Frank, a reformed thief, refuses to stage a robbery with his old accomplices, and when they are arrested, one of the gang accuses Frank of informing the police and kills him. Arriving at his apartment, Dorothy assumes that Gordon killed him and is hiding the body when a detective enters. Unaware that Gordon is in the next room, Dorothy confesses that, unable to have a child, she had secretly adopted Frank's baby in Gordon's absence. Relieved, Gordon forgives his wife, while the real murderer is caught and arrested.