 Riding the plains on assignment, Paladin s taken prisoner by a rancher and his hands, pursuing the man in black who romanced, then murdered his much younger wife. 2 other passersby, also traveling from the direction of the spread are seized too: a brash cowboy, and a very proper salesman of rifles. All profess innocence, so the wealthy rancher pits the prisoners against each other - because confession or not there ll be lynching at dawn. Paladin is skeptical of everybody.