Near midnight five riders approach Gunderstrom's lone cabin. Gunderstrom is murdered. Mason enters the sheriff's office. Mason is sent to investigate. Gunderstrom's ranch hands give their statements.
Buck gathers details at the site.
After the sheriff arrives, Buck suggest preserving some evidence then leaves. Upon returning to the jail, Uncle Billy Cage repeats a phone call that accuses Buck Mason of the murder. The TR Ranch, on hard times, has become a dude ranch operated by Cory Blaine. By the third year it was making money, though Blaine's ambitions of wealth had not materialized. He watched as the buckboard, which shuttled clients from the railhead to the ranch, delivered Bruce Marvel.