Sydney St. John, still living and working in Gansel, Oklahoma, hopes to never be involved in a murder investigation again. She plans on being content with organizing the historical documents in the Filmore County Historical Archives. But when Patrick O'Kelley, preaching to no one on the corner opposite the archives in twenty-degree weather, is found murdered, her curiosity once again gets the better of her.

The facts she discovers lead her to hidden gold, oil rights, and Edward Capeheart O'Kelley, the man who shot Bob Ford, Jesse James's killer. What does the murder in the late 1800s have to do with Patrick O'Kelley's death in the 21st century?