Jerico Jones, horse wrangler and adept detective, takes on a gang of thieves, a murderer and corrupt law enforcers in this quintet of Western stories. Jerico Jones has his horse string stolen by a gang of thieves in Jerico Takes The Rough String. The sheriff thinks that the way to find the thieves is to follow the trail left by their horses, whereas Jerico heads in the opposite direction: the way from which the thieves came. In Steers, a boy is murdered and John Sturgis, owner of the Bar S, claims he owns the Macklin Ranch. Jerico is not sure how much help Deputy Sheriff Lance Touhy, the former Bar S wagon boss, is going to be. In Nine Coffins For Bellaire, Jerico Jones is injured in a train wreck and loses the string of horses he was shipping. The railroad is more than willing to reimburse Jerico for his loss, but the amount of the requisition is for twice the sum of his claim.