A right-wing group robs the tribal casino on the Southern Ute reservation in Colorado, and the getaway car is found abandoned on a remote mesa on the Navajo reservation in Utah. As the FBI muscles in and then manhandles the investigation with tactics completely unsuited to the desert environment of the Four Corners, retired Navajo Lieutenant Leaphorn and Sargeant Jim Chee undertake their own investigation, following a trail the FBI had ignored.