This is very graphic, it borders from thriller to horror. Jim Bonner and Smitty Younger investigate the murder of a well known cattle rancher in the area of Melville, Texas. It's no ordinary kind of murder though and it has the entire town in an uproar. Old man Perkins was killed, his arms and legs cut off and his blood drained then hung on a scarecrow cross out in the corn field. There hasn't been anything like this in Melville before and the town is in a frenzy.Everyone is suspect, even witchcraft. There is no blood on the ground where he is hung, and no one has seen anything, no witnesses. Jim goes to extreme measures to keep a tight lid on the town and his investigation quiet.Warning all the ranchers to beware, Jim and Smitty are busy trying to find clues.Meanwhile in Cross Timbers, Sadie Martin was managing to feed the hungry in her town, thanks to her brother, Elmer. But Sadie didn't know how Elmer got his meat, nor the trouble he had getting it. Sadie loved her brother and was thankful that he took care of her, otherwise she couldn't feed the starving town.Jim knew he had to set a trap to catch the killer. And he had to do it fast because the town was ready to hang the doctor for the deed.