Veiller used his experience as a crime reporter to develop the play, but he was initially unable to find a producer for it.

In the first act, department store owner Edward Gilder learns that one of his former sales clerks, Mary Turner, has been convicted for stealing and given a three-year prison sentence.

After being released from prison, Turner sets up a gang that engages in shady activities that are just within the boundaries of the law.

When the stooge reveals the plot, the gang member kills him, leaving Turner and her new husband at the scene to be found by the police.

[1][b] Veiller began writing the play under the title The Miracle, which he later revised to The Case of Mary Turner and finally to Within the Law.

Several prominent producers considered it, including David Belasco, George M. Cohan, Charles Frohman, Sam Harris, and Henry Wilson Savage.

[2][3][4] Seeing few prospects for his work, Veiller offered to sell the rights to Within the Law and two other plays to the Selwyns for a flat fee of $3,750 (about $89,000 in 2023 dollars).

[5] After a few weeks of unsuccessful results, Brady was disillusioned with the play and offered to sell the rights back to the Selwyns.

[2][3][4][5] Woods brought the play to his newly built Eltinge 42nd Street Theatre in New York, where it was the venue's debut production.

Reflecting on the production's critical and financial success in his autobiography, Veiller wished that more actresses had "ruined" his plays in this way.

[9] The play's protagonist and lead female role is Mary Turner, a shopgirl who becomes a criminal mastermind.

Grace George initially accepted the part for the Chicago production, but changed her mind during rehearsals and decided she did not want to play the leader of a criminal gang.

[12] Actor William B. Mack appeared in both the Chicago and Broadway productions, both times playing Joe Garson, the gang member responsible for the shooting.

The reviewer for The New York Times called it "an exciting entertainment of the most vivid kind", praising the writing and the performances.

[1] A review in Brooklyn Life called the story "extremely interesting and well told" and said there was "not a weak spot in the cast".

[15] In Everybody's Magazine, drama critic Clayton Hamilton called it "a genuine achievement" that was "tightly constructed, tersely written, and admirably acted".

[7] In 1914, Walter Reynolds called it "the greatest success of any modern melodrama produced in the metropolis",[5] and in 1915, theater journalist Rennold Wolf said it was possibly "the most profitable play of our generation".

[18] The stage productions included several actors who had performed the play in the United States, such as Canadian actress Muriel Starr as Turner.