"Matt Battles was an outcast in his own home town. Robbery and murder had been done and, despite a total lack of proof, many thought that Matt--and his pal, Johnny Kidd, who had disappeared after the crime--had been in on it. Then Matt was offered a chance to clear both their names by Sheriff Tom Chisholm--a man he'd considered his foe. All he had to do was get caught in a trumped-up robbery, and then get close to a trio of desperados doing time in State Lodge prison. These three, scuttlebutt had it, had pulled the job for which Matt and Johnny were blamed. But as Matt walked into the store he was to "rob," he saw the dead body of its owner in front of an empty safe. And when he rushed to the one man he thought could help him, Sheriff Chisholm, he found himself looking down the barrel of a custom .45."--Back cover.