 Wade Hatton, a prominent attorney, returns to Sparta to gather material for a book. A Sparta City Council meeting is interrupted by loud rap music, which is blamed on ex-Chief Bill Gillespie s lack of discipline. Racist council member Holly Colmer has his way, and Hampton Forbes is appointed new Chief of Police. Bill is almost immediately appointed Acting Sheriff to replace the ailing Sheriff McComb. Coley Hiffern and Nat Bream plan to rob a family that is rumored to keep $1,000,000 in their home. Nat persuades slow-witted Henry Ulmer to drive his foster father s car to the job. Henry is the ward of prominent citizens Arvin and Joanna Allenby. Coley and Nat rob and kill the Barron family, and Henry becomes a suspect.