San Antonio

Clay Hardin arrives in San Antonio by stagecoach, carrying a book he says proves Roy Stuart is behind the rustlers. He believes the document will expose the culprit and save the town from lawlessness. He entrusts the book to Charlie Bell for safekeeping and heads off to meet Jeanne Starr.

Charlie Bell takes custody of the book, agreeing to guard it as Clay’s key piece of evidence. The arrangement places Charlie at the center of the emerging conflict and makes him a potential target. The town watches as the stakes around the book tighten.

Clay goes to meet Jeanne Starr in her dressing room and tries to reassure her against Charlie's suspicions. He courts her, setting up a romance that complicates the political stakes in town. The encounter hints that personal and criminal interests are about to collide.

Clay and Jeanne share a balcony moment as Clay woos her, unaware that danger is closing in. Stuart fires at Clay, breaking the window behind them and pulling Charlie toward the gunfire. The confrontation marks the first direct flash of violence tied to the book's revelations.

Legare, watching from the shadows, shoots Charlie as he moves toward the disturbance, seizing the book and threatening Sacha. The killing cuts deeper into the town’s already fragile code of order. Clay’s pursuit of truth is now entangled with immediate danger to the players around him.

With civil law in short supply, a cavalry troop is posted to keep the peace. The Colonel holds a hearing to investigate Charlie's death, but Sacha is too afraid to testify. The proceedings highlight how fear and power corrupt the town's justice.

Clay asks the Colonel to appoint him town marshal so he can uncover who killed Charlie. The Colonel grants him a 24-hour window before a new marshal is designated. The countdown intensifies the tension and accelerates the pursuit of the book's truth.

Legare warns Jeanne that he will have Clay killed if she reveals anything. Jeanne remains guarded as Clay's resolve to uncover the truth deepens. The threat tightens the personal stakes in the investigation.

The cavalry rides out to address a different crisis, leaving the town vulnerable to hired guns. San Antonio fills with tension and gunmen ready to enforce their own brand of justice. The power vacuum accelerates Clay's pursuit of the truth.

Clay learns Stuart didn’t kill Charlie and confronts Legare in the Bella Union, escorting him through the saloon at gunpoint. Stuart steps onto the stage, and Jeanne warns Clay that danger is imminent. The audience becomes a battleground for control of the book.

A massive gunfight erupts around the Bella Union as factions clash and the book changes hands. Legare flees into the Alamo ruins, pursued by Stuart, who kills him and escapes with the book on horseback. The chaotic confrontation leaves San Antonio teetering on the edge of an all-out war.

Clay pursues Stuart in a final confrontation and the two fight in a brutal hand-to-hand exchange that ends when Stuart's head strikes a rock and he dies. Clay retrieves the book and finally catches Jeanne's coach, sharing a quiet moment as Jeanne reveals her Fort Worth roots and they kiss as the coach turns away.