Two young boys suddenly disappear. One of them, a Zuñi, leaves a pool of blood behind. Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, of the Navajo Tribal Police, tracks the brutal killer. Three things complicate the search: an archaeological dig, a steel hypodermic needle, and the strange laws of the Zuñi.

A noted anthropologist vanishes on the eve of making a history-altering discovery at an ancient Nanajo ruin. Navajo Tribal policemen Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee plunge into the past to find a present day cold-hearted killer.

Lt. Joe Leaphorn is determined to discover who the real killer of a Navajo Tribal policeman is and why a Hopi eagle poacher is being set up for the crime.

First there was the trouble at Saint Bonaventure boarding school. A teacher is dead, a boy is missing, and a councilwoman has put a lot of pressure on Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn and Officer Jim Chee -to find her grandson. Sitting on a rooftop watching sacred clowns perform their antics in a Puebla ceremonial, Chee spots the boy. Then, suddenly, the crowd is in commotion. One of the clowns has been savagely murdered. Without a single due, On and Leophorn...