A young woman named Gladys Price has been murdered in Lover's Lane, and by all appearances it looks like Carl Hobson is the murderer. He is found in the car with her, knocked out, with the murder weapon tossed in the bushes nearby. Carl claims he's innocent. The cops think otherwise.
Carl's mother tries to hire detective Pat Raffigan to prove his innocence. But she can't afford to pay. Instead, Raffigan takes on the case for Gladys' father, who wants him to prove that Carl is the killer, and can afford to pay for that proof. But the more Raffigan digs, the less Gladys looks like the sweet innocent her father thinks her to be.
The Lady Was a Tramp introduces private eye Pat Raffigan, the hero of a number of stories Harry Whittington wrote for newspaper syndication in the 1940s and 50s. In each one Raffigan pits his wits and determination against a series of clever criminals. He is lied to, shot at, beaten and tossed into alleys. But the dapper Raffigan never gives up until the case is closed... even though each case looks like it'll be his last.