A man named Daniel Ahearn bartended his way through law school. His cousin, Cronin, goes to a politician named Senator McGlynn and asks him to give Ahearn a chance in law. McGlynn, who was well known to control the city’s politics, met with Ahearn and questioned his staunch moral virtues. Despite Ahearn’s vehement refusal to back down from his beliefs, McGlynn was impressed with his character, and the young man soon received the position of Assistant D.A. for the city. Soon after papers published his history as a bartender and the city laughed at him, which only made Ahearn double down on his mission to clean the city of criminals through harsh, heavy-handed sentences. At the height of his successful career, McGlynn again called him to a meeting, which led to his appointment as a Supreme Court Justice. As a Justice, he became known as an even harsher and stricter proponent of the law than before, even going as far as to sentence a nineteen-year-old to death and refuse his cousin Cronin any help when he asked for mercy. He continued on this way for years until his beloved daughter Babe comes and begs him to save her husband from prison after he is caught for insurance fraud. Ahearn already hates him due to a cheating scandal. At first he refuses, but she is so distraught that she faints, and his love for her but inability to break the law causes him to resign from his position. A young reporter tracks him down to get a story about his abrupt leave from the world of law, and Ahearn tells him the story of a man who took it into his own hands to serve justice to his son for a crime. Since he couldn’t do the same for his own daughter, he had to leave. The reporter fails to understand this connection, and wishes he’d asked a different question so he could get a real story.