When the second drug user is killed in Hawthorn County, everyone wonders what is going on. Both were "nobodies."
That is to say that they weren't important enough for those dealing drugs to kill. It made a certain kind of sense if one
was killed, but not two. And the manner of the murder didn't fit with a drug industry killing. They were killed by a sniper.
Only someone who "knew something" would merit a professional hit. But as Guidry tells Richard, "Like drug-related
crimes are supposed to make sense?"
Because of the killings, Richard is asked to join the Ozark Foothills
Task Force by Deputy Scott Berman of Ripley County. The snipings continue, eventually targeting someone higher in the drug
business. Still, there is no solid lead.
Matters are complicated when a local newspaper claims police connivance
in the murders. Then the sniper targets law enforcement. The editor/owner of the scandal sheet, The Wilderness Voice, christens
the sniper with a nickname, "The King Snake," in reference to the King Snakes habit of eating other snakes, even
those of its own kind.
Who will be the next target? What is really going on?