Corcoran takes some time off as Eureka County Deputy Sheriff to visit an old family friend and stumbles into a land fraud scheme. It gets mighty dangerous as a conspiracy develops, one layer at a time, and bodies begin to pile up. A rancher leaves his foreman in charge in order to get medical help for his daughter and the foreman claims the man abandoned his homestead claim.
Corcoran being Corcoran, he meets a charming young lady whose father is an Oregon County Sheriff. He seriously contemplates giving up his badge and settling down.