Sheriff Roger Gill has been asked by the county commissioners to cut money from his budget. He does so by cutting overtime for his deputies, and cutting expenses everywhere he can. Then a double homicide occurs in Harper County, his county, and all of the savings he has made for the sheriff's department blow right out the window. It is not as bad as it could have been, though. The crime is solved within twenty-four hours. According to the official investigation, Diana Winston-Slade, killed her husband, Mike Slade and his friend Donald. Then she drove back to Wichita where she committed suicide. Neat. Too neat. Something is wrong with the picture. At last Sheriff Gill sees what it is and now instead of a double homicide he has a triple homicide and the adventure begins which will cover four states and end with a shootout in Kansas.