Sheriff Thomas of the small town of Fenton's Creek is exceedingly puzzled when an elderly recluse is murdered. This first murder is followed swiftly by another and it soon seems that Fenton's Creek is at the centre of an affair which has even the government in Washington alarmed. Into this maelstrom of violence comes young Harriet Thorndike from Boston. She knows nothing of what is going on and has only arrived in the town to attend her uncle's funeral. In no time at all, her own life is also in jeopardy and she soon finds herself caught up in a desperate search for the treasure which is said to lie up in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona.