Because mystery writer Winthrop Clavering is constantly ridiculed for the inauthenticity of his crimes, he decides to solve a case himself. To that end, he determines to find the slayer of “Pedro Alvarez,” aka Morton, who whispered before dying that his assailant was a woman. At the City Refuge for Homeless Girls, Clavering obtains the stenographic assistance of Margaret Holt, the sister of District Attorney Victor Holt. Margaret, it is revealed, had come to the city to visit her brother, but was abducted by Juanita, a member of Alverez’s “Scarlet Band,” a gang of white slavers. After escaping from a brothel during a fire, Margaret teams with her brother to capture the gang. She becomes Alvarez’s stenographer, hoping to gather secret information on his gang, but as she searches for evidence in his rooms at the Beaumont Hotel, Alvarez surprises her, and she stabs him with a knife in self-defense. She gives Alvarez’s envelope, which is due to be picked up by a gang member, to reporter Jack Howell, who takes it to a prearranged spot in order that he can follow whoever picks it up. Discovering the Scarlet Band’s hideout, Jack frees Margaret’s brother Victor, who has been kidnapped. In the end, Clavering summons Juanita and the gang to his home, where Detective Bill Flynn, Victor Holt, and Jack Howell trap them. Clavering, who has already suspected Margaret of killing Alvarez, clears her and encourages her romance with Jack.