Buck Horne, an ageing western movie star, takes the lead role in Wild Bill Grant’s Rodeo, to the displease of its erstwhile star One-Arm Woody. At the first show, he’s shot to death in front of a crowd of thousands. After the case goes cold, the rodeo resumes with Woody back in the lead… and he, too, is shot in exactly the same way at exactly the same part of the show.
A few clues but most of all the creases in the man’s belt strongly suggested that the first man killed was not Buck Horne. The angle of the bullet wound that seemed to suggest the shot came from above, in the audience, of course did nothing of the sort. The riders were in a curve and heavily leaning to one side. The bullet struck parallel to the ground, from one of the other performers. Who is the mysterious man Miller? Well, of course it’s Buck. Buck is the killer. All of that is easy enough to solve. The motive isn’t. Even the book itself never really states what the motive is.
No inscriptions.