When a rainmaker is bludgeoned to death in the pitch blackness of a colossal dust storm, small-town sheriff Temple Jennings shoulders yet another burden in the hard times of the 1930s Dust Bowl. As the sheriff and his young deputy investigate the murder, their suspicions focus on a teenager, Carmine, serving with the Civilian Conservation Corps. After Temple eventually arrests Carmine, Temple's wife Etha quickly becomes convinced of his innocence and sets out to prove it. But Etha's investigations soon reveal a darker web of secrets.
