Trying to solve the murder of a rich landowner, Marshal Stone gets help from the modern forensic investigation expertise of visiting Pinkerton detective Larimer Finch.
As plans proceed for the execution of a convicted murderer by the newly-designed hydraulic gallows, Stone begins to doubt the young man's guilt, to the dismay of the victim's vengeance-minded mother.
The discovery of a stranger's dead body at the edge of town ruins the mayor's attempts to promote Silver City to out-of-town investors, but more importantly to Stone the trail of evidence leads directly to his friend Luci, owner of the local saloon and brothel.
A double murder attributed to renegade Arapaho Indians causes the mayor to call for help from the army, giving Marshal Stone extra trouble trying to keep the army scouts and the native americans from killing each other while he hunts for the true culprit.
An old friend of Marshal Stone's, a legendary gunfighter, comes to Silver City to try to retire, but first decides to assist Stone in pursuit of a gang that robbed a stagecoach and killed all the passengers.
When the Silver Star Mining Company is robbed, Finch is confronted with his past and struggles to find evidence. But Stone helps him realize there is no such thing as a perfect crime.
A wanted fugitive, the beautiful Miranda Blanchard, comes under some heavy scrutiny from Stone and Finch after she witnesses a murder. On the lam, and terrified for her life, she turns to the law to protect her.
Two oilmen bring the promise of progress to Silver City, but when Stone and Finch investigate the murder of the Mayor's brother-in-law, they find out how far some people will go for big bucks.
When the new minister is assaulted and his wife kidnapped, Stone hunts down the culprits, but struggles to find justice in the outcome.