The murder investigation of a young girl in Wyoming in mid-1941 is derailed by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, disrupting the lives of everyone involved. Bobby Watson mans an antiaircraft gun during the attack. Sheriff Tom Call joins the U.S. Air Force and is deployed to England to fly bombers, while still trying to pursue his murder investigation. His suspicion falls on Pardo Bury, the psychotic son of a wealthy rancher in Wyoming.