A bitter dispute erupts on the riverbank: bullying is encouraged by Stuart Dunwoody and fight, don’t run, is advocated by Big Jim Thorndyke. The children are caught in the middle, and as with most bullies, there is no winner–everyone loses. And in Broad River Gems, the victim nor the perpetrator escapes the sins of their fathers. The conflict leaves John Thorndyke befuddled and his sister Lisbeth adds to his dilemma. She plans to marry the enemy, George Dunwoody, and John plots to kill George minutes before the wedding. However, at the wedding, John panics and while he is deranged, George is murdered and someone drops the shotgun in John’s lap. Proven guilty, John is sentenced to die, and Lisbeth struggles to save herself. As she writes about the tragedy, she realizes John may not have murdered George. Clueless as to who did, she and Albert Dunwoody set out to find the culprit, but not before an elderly man pins the murderer to a wall.