The last Medicine Elder is murdered, shot by a high-powered sniper rifle on a deserted desert. Children and adults are dying of strange diseases, including polio, long thought to have been conquered, and leukemia. Adults die of lymphoma. More murder victims are found. One young man, crippled by polio, struggles to climb to a holy place where he might meet his spirit guide, and encounters things unexpected.. The young men of the Eastward Kiva Society join their allies, Dr. Nastas Deschene, the Nation's coroner and a forensic anthropologist; Joseph Eagle Wings, Chief of the Nation's Police; Susan Calvin, investigative reporter and now wife of Dr. Deschene; Doli Tabahaa, lawyer and lobbyist; and FBI Special Agent in Charge Gabrielle to solve the mystery. But, is there only one mystery, and can science and spirituality work together to delve deeply into the situation?