When Kentucky Jones turned up in Waterman for the inquest into the death of John Mason, he couldn't help noticing that the whole town was on the edge. Beef prices were sagging, ranchers were at each other's throats, and the ugly suspicion in every face warned him that a range war loomed in the Wolf Bench country. Then lovely Jody Ragland, looking faint and drawn, swayed toward him, thrust something into his hand, and vanished. When he looked into his palm, he was shocked by what he saw. There lay the bullet that killed John Mason.