In San Geronimo, New Mexico, the rich and famous mingle with the down and out, and the secrets of the past collide with the crimes of the present....

Shortly after private eye Howard Moon Deer decides to settle down with his latest lady love, he accepts a new case that takes him away from the home front and introduces him to the dangerous passions that drive San Geronimo's thriving art scene.

Howard and ex-police commander Jack Wilder have been hired to investigate Sherman Stone, a man notorious for his torrid liaisons and low-life friends. Rumor has it that he's planning to have his wealthy wife killed. But before Howard can separate fact from fiction, a local hobo is murdered, and then Sherman himself meets an untimely end. Now Howard and Jack must follow a sinister trail of clues that leads them into the past - to the night when a precious painting was stolen and a murderous legacy was born....