All the while, Tay-bodal -- a healer and member of the Rattle Band -- is enduring a personal crisis. A fight with his wife has escalated to the point where he has moved out, his wife is seen with a very eligible bachelor, and divorce seems inevitable. Tay-bodal is therefore not in the best frame of mind he is called upon to investigate a murder among the bands. Three Elks, a fond acquaintance of Tay-bodal and son of another chief, has been murdered. The one accused of killing him is a member of the Rattle Band, and to make matters worse, he is the same man who has been plotting to steal Tay-bodal's wife. Unless Tay-bodal can put aside his own dislike and prove that the accused is innocent -- and quickly -- there will be war between the bands, tearing apart what remains of the Kiowa Nation.