 As the uncle of Little Joe s girlfriend suffers a crippling stroke, a man posing as a Good Samaritan rapes and kills the woman. As the killer - a seemingly genial munitions expert who has gotten a job clearing stumps off the Ponderosa - ponders his next move, Little Joe vows to track down the killer. The only clue he has to go on: the uncle s feebly scrawled note saying "New Orleans Woman."