The trouble begins for Sheriff Claude Rainey when a mummified man and his horse is discovered in a desert canyon near Springville, Arizona, both shot in the head. What troubles Rainey is that near the body are five bloodstained packets of $100 bills. The only clue to the identity of the dead man is the shriveled up brand on the horse. It is Sheriff Rainey's hope that the town can keep the money and build a schoolhouse. But then two men arrive within two weeks of each other. The first informs Rainey that US Marshal Jonas Gantt and his horse have been found shot in the head on his land across the border in Mexico. The circumstances are similar to those of the dead man and his horse found in the canyon. The second man informs Rainey that the dead man found by the Hightower cowboys was his partner back in Raton, New Mexico. Both men arouse suspicion. Will the killer and what it is that he is really after?