Joe Leaphorn, Jim Chee and Officer Manuelito are trying to solve the murder of an Old man and a young girl. He has to try to connect the present to the past while dealing with some pretty "dark winds" at the same time.
Leaphorn's niece celebrates her Kinaaldá as Leaphorn retrieves the bodies of the murder victims; Manuelito and Chee investigate the whereabouts of the missing Mormon family.
Leaphorn suspects all of the crimes on the reservation are related; there is a big break in the case; Leaphorn invites Chee over for dinner; Manuelito makes a discovery of her own.
With a major suspect in custody, Leaphorn discovers that there is more to this crime than he would have ever imagined; Manuelito faces her worst fears; Chee must make a choice between his career and his people.
Leaphorn, Chee and Manuelito descend on the hiding place of the Buffalo Society, only to be confronted with hard decisions that could change the outcome of the rest of their lives.
