John Cutler followed a newspaper lead to Langtry, Texas, where his rogue grizzly was rumored to be, but instead he found a broken-down frontier circus. During the tiger act, the beast suddenly sprang at the audience, and Cutler leaped from the stands and forced the tiger back into its cage. Instead of praise for his brave act, he got nothing but anger from the animal trainer, Erik Hansen.The following night, the tiger escaped and killed six sheep belonging to Judge Roy Bean, who deputized Cutler but told him to stay behind and keep an eye on the circus people while Hansen searched for the tiger. Cutler smelled something fishy between Bean and Hansen, and before it all ended, Cutler found himself facing the tiger ... and a charge of murder!Fourth in the John Cutler series following in the tradition of John Benteen.