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This is a rather wild story, complete with a couple of gun battles that could just as well have taken place during World War II.
Perry Bordwin is the leader of the Better City League, a reform group. Cardona, Weston and Lamont are at a meeting with him where he is complaining about illegal gambling in the city. Weston says that no owners have complained about being forced to go along with the gangsters, though.
Two other men may start a gambling club together and buck the established gangs, which could start a mob war in the city. Lamont is invited to a party held by the two guys, Lamont being a rich member of higher society.
Lucien Darra is one of the two guys, his helper being Lou Telf, a private detective.
There is a very annoying thing the writer does in this particular story, though, and that is using the terms the Shadow and Lamont Cranston interchangeably in the same sentence. I'm used to Lamont Cranston being Lamont Cranston; he then changes outfits and becomes the Shadow, but in several places in this story the author goes back and forth with the terms even though Lamont remains physically dressed as Lamont.
The other gambler is Waldo Hoxland. Darra throws a party and the Shadow goes to a room, hearing a gunshot inside. A masked lady exits, a gun in her hand. She manages to escape, mob snipers outside covering her escape. There's a gun battle, and the Shadow chases her in a cab.
There's a bunch of mobsters that follow the Shadow's cab, but it seems they are after the masked lady. Meanwhile, she changes her outfit in a cab, showing she had a wig on. The Shadow's agents arrive, and there's a major battle between the mobsters on one side, and the Shadow and his agents on the other, the battle almost sounding like a description of a battle from World War II.
June Albury is the masked lady. Her brother owed Darra money, and Hoxland demands she pays it. She goes to meet Tony Wardron to ask him for money. Meanwhile, Weston wants the masked lady found, and Cardona goes to talk to the reformer Brodwin.
Cliff Marsland and Hawkeye find out some information and report it to the Shadow. Harry Vincent, Rutledge Mann and Clyde Burke, three more of the Shadow's agents, are at a nightclub with cameras. They all expect the masked lady to show up.
Hoxland and his cronies are there, along with Cardona and his men. There's a “masked lady” performance by various women, but one of them stops in front of Hoxland and takes an I.O.U. from him that had been her brothers. He charges at her and she fires and also shoots at the shadow. There's another major gun battle that takes place and she again flees in a cab.
Cardona, Telf and Lamont go to a hospital to talk to some thugs that had been injured. The masked lady shows up there, wanting pictures that were taken at the night club.
Chuck Margle, mob leader, has pretended to be wounded and draws a gun. He and the masked lady escape. June meets her brother George later in Moe's cab.
Another person is Freda, George's ultra-nasty wife. Cardona and Freda come to a club and Cardona tells June she has to go downtown. She's put in a lineup, but no one can positively i.d. her as the masked lady.
Later the Shadow attacks Chuck and his men in their own lair.
Freda keeps trying to get June blamed. June goes to Brodwin's apartment. Cardona and others are there, a gang outside. Telf is in another room and is killed by a gunshot. The masked lady flees and fights Cardona, but is stopped by the Shadow who unmasks her.
The Shadow tells her to tell her story. (Cardona is right there, and this makes it seem like, at this point in the series, Cardona and the Shadow can work literally side-by-side.)
Hoxland is the one who murdered Darra. Telf killed Hoxland, and then someone else killed him. There's another major gun battle that takes place, the real murderer is revealed, and the masked lady is cleared of any wrongdoing.