The wind picks up later that night, and Horseman hides from the Navajo Wolf by covering himself in ashes. He doesn’t think the Wolf followed him, but he’s afraid that he must stay nearby to rendezvous with his cousin, Billy Nez. Horseman inspects his medicine pouch, which contains corn pollen, gall medicine, and a small turquoise bear. He chants for protection, though he can’t speak to the Holy People properly.

Meanwhile in Window Rock, Law and Order officer Joe Leaphorn reviews Horseman’s case file. He’s in no rush to find Horseman, since he’s sure the boy will stay put wherever he’s hiding. Leaphorn listens to the wind and thinks about witchcraft, which his friend Bergen McKee studies. McKee’s marriage dissolved, and year after year he sends letters asking to visit the Navajo Nation for his research, though he doesn’t act on his request. McKee recently sent another of these letters.

In his Albuquerque apartment, anthropology professor Bergen McKee drinks a shaker of martinis instead of grading his students’ final examination papers. He wonders whether Leaphorn will respond to his letter, and, depending on Leaphorn’s prognosis of witch gossip, whether he’ll finally venture to the Nation to complete the research for his book. McKee steps out onto his balcony and listens to a song about the passage of time. He puts the ungraded papers away, mixes another drink, and heads off to bed. He dusts off a framed proclamation written by his students six years ago, which cheekily named him the Monster Slayer of Navajo mythology. The Monster Slayer was born out of wedlock and is thus a “bastard,” just like McKee when he grades papers. The proclamation brings back happy memories of when he won tenure at the University of New Mexico and felt enthusiastic about his work. His happiness was quickly shattered when his wife Sara unceremoniously left him with a short note. McKee finishes his martini and drifts off to sleep.

The next morning, McKee checks his mail in the university’s anthropology department. As he flips through his notices, the secretary, Mrs. Kreutzer, asks if McKee saw Dr. Jeremy Canfield yet, as he had a request from a woman looking for someone in the Navajo Nation. McKee thinks Mrs. Kreutzer is trying to set him up, but she’s serious, even though she does worry about him. Mrs. Kreutzer urges McKee to visit the Nation this summer instead of taking on his colleague’s summer session, and though McKee claims he doesn’t mind, he resents agreeing to put his passion project on hold yet again.

In his office, McKee stares at a letter from Leaphorn and recalls his early optimism while researching in the Nation. In the letter, Leaphorn reports on the sparse gossip about witchcraft in the region. Two rumors seem like harmless interpersonal feuds, but one, from the northern Lukachukai region, might be promising. Rumor has it that a group of Navajo Wolves live in the mountain caves and terrorize local animals. Leaphorn wonders if the Wolf rumor is connected to one of his cases. He closes his letter with updates about his family and an invitation for McKee to visit. McKee remembers how helpful Leaphorn was during his initial investigation, as well as the thrilling debates they had. McKee thinks belief in witchcraft is a simple superstition to assign blame, but Leaphorn believes people who turned from the Navajo Way truly became unnatural and evil.

Dr. Canfield interrupts McKee’s thoughts with questions about where an electrical engineer could work in the Navajo Nation. Ellen Leon, the woman Mrs. Kreutzer spoke about, came to Canfield for advice, and he directed her as best he could. He didn’t ask why Ellen was looking for the man, a Dr. Jimmy W. Hall, but he offered to keep an eye out for him while he and McKee were out looking for witches. McKee doesn’t correct Canfield and instead brainstorms possible camping locations. They settle on the Lukachukai region, where Canfield can study Anasazi ruins while McKee investigates witch rumors. Canfield jokingly asks for a guarantee of his safety, so McKee throws him a turquoise carving for protection.

McKee sits outside Shoemaker’s trading post in the Navajo Nation as Leaphorn speaks with the owner. Leaphorn asks Old Shoemaker about Luis Horseman, who stabbed a Mexican man in Gallup a month ago. He suspects Horseman wouldn’t hide with his in-laws, so he’s likely near his mother’s clan in the north. Leaphorn hopes that by gossiping about how the Mexican man is recovering to Shoemaker’s customers that word will get to Horseman and he’ll come out of hiding. A tall Navajo man shopping to replace his stolen hat doesn’t recognize Horseman’s description. McKee dissociates from the conversation and makes a plan to stay with Leaphorn another day before interviewing Old Woman Gray Rocks and meeting up with Canfield.

As the Big Navajo purchases his hat, Leaphorn continues to describe where Horseman might be hiding. Leaphorn’s mention of the western Lukachukai Mountains piques the man’s interest, but he again claims ignorance, though he agrees Horseman should come in rather than Law and Order going into the area. Leaphorn introduces the Big Navajo to McKee and his interest in witches. The Big Navajo claims he heard that a man dreamed about a dog that turned into a man, but he laughs that it’s all baseless stories.

Leaphorn and McKee drive down the highway and discuss their progress. Although no one admitted to seeing Horseman, Leaphorn is sure people knew where he was, like Nagami Lum and the Big Navajo. Lum also told McKee a rumor about a Navajo Wolf in the Lukachukais, which a young relative saw one night attacking a herd of sheep. McKee thinks a young boy at night isn’t a reliable source, but it adds to other reports from that region. Leaphorn thinks the Big Navajo is suspicious and possibly lying, since his hat was stolen but not its fancy silver concho.

Joseph Begay wakes before dawn and sees the mountain Reaches for the Sky from his hogan. Begay and his wife used to live elsewhere, but after their son Long Fingers died in his sleep, they had to board up the hogan with his ghost inside and built a new one. Begay built the door slightly off from the traditional eastward direction so he could see Reaches for the Sky, but he made sure to follow all other Navajo building practices. He quietly puts his clothes on and slips outside to make coffee. He allows himself to think about his daughter’s arrival that morning; she’s staying with the family all summer after being away for a year.

As he drives to the bus stop, Begay sings a Navajo water song. He stops the truck near Teastah Wash to make sure the road isn’t covered with rain from last night’s storm. Satisfied, he returns to the truck, but an owl frantically flies around him. Begay wonders if the erratic owl is really a ghost. Begay’s fears ease as he drives out of Teastah Wash and the sun rises, but he soon comes across the dead body of Luis Horseman. He stops to inspect the body, protecting himself with a thumb of corn pollen and a chant. He speeds away to alert Law and Order.

McKee marks the location of Navajo Wolf incidents on a map in Leaphorn’s office when a dispatcher arrives to announce Luis Horseman’s death. The body was found in Ganado, much to Leaphorn’s surprise, so he must clear the body. On the drive to Ganado, Leaphorn puzzles over the body’s location. Horseman’s truck was last seen heading north toward the native region of his mother’s clan, but Ganado is south. Leaphorn is sure the people he spoke to at Shoemaker’s knew Horseman was in the north, like the Big Navajo.

Leaphorn and McKee pick up Rudolph Bitsi, the coroner, and meet policeman Dick Roanhorse at the crime scene. Leaphorn notes that Horseman’s body was likely in place before the rain started, since the only tracks are from Begay’s truck. Horseman’s legs are straight and rigid, with one arm extended and the other curled. Bitsi smells alcohol, and when Roanhorse presents a whiskey bottle that was nearby, Bitsi theorizes that Horseman had a seizure from alcohol poisoning. Leaphorn, not satisfied with that quick assessment, continues to investigate the site. He notices the lack of flora in the area and a freshly broken juniper bush. He finds the broken branch, which could’ve been used to brush away someone’s tracks. He suspects Horseman was placed on the side of the road before his body went into rigor mortis, which produced the unnatural positioning. He wonders why someone left Horseman’s body so visible.

McKee meets with Old Woman Gray Rocks at her summer hogan, and he questions her in Navajo. She says that to stop witchcraft, a clan captures the Wolf and ties him down until he admits his wrongdoing, after which he grows sick and dies within a year. However, she doesn’t think the clan will find this current Wolf because he’s a stranger. This interests McKee, as it doesn’t fit his theory about Wolves being a scapegoat figure within a clan. Earlier, after gossiping about her relatives, she also told him that a white man was spotted asking for directions near Many Ruins Canyon, and McKee assumes this was Dr. Hall. Old Woman Gray Rocks alludes to gossip about Luis Horseman, and how a boy from the Nez family brought him information from Shoemaker’s. McKee makes note of the information, since it confirms Leaphorn’s theory that Horseman was in the north.

McKee asks Old Woman Gray Rocks to elaborate on her belief that the Wolf is a stranger. She explains that the Wolf attacked the sheep of Tsosie Begay, and the same boot prints found by the pen were seen at a camp in the Lukachukais. Another man—who McKee assumes is her son-in-law, Afraid of His Horse—saw the Wolf killing his pen of rams while wearing a wolf pelt and skull. Both men didn’t recognize the Wolf, so he’s likely not from the area. Ben Yazzie also saw the Wolf.

Canfield picks McKee up after buying groceries and informs him that Ellen Leon will be in the area looking for Dr. Hall. McKee isn’t sure he has solid evidence for witchcraft yet, but their camp at Many Ruins Canyon will be close to the Tsosies’ summer hogan, so he can visit them to find out more. He plans to call Leaphorn with his information about Horseman. They drive through the canyons and mark down sites for Canfield’s investigation before setting up camp. As night falls, they see an owl and hear a dog, and they joke about spirits hovering around them.