The precipice -- El Llano Estacado -- Stepping over the threshold -- J.W. and Mollie Jarrott -- Isolation loneliness and danger -- Cowmen vs. plowmen: tensions escalate -- Death on the lonely Llano Estacado -- Trail of the assassin -- The man who hired the assassin -- Epilogue: What a difference an individual life can make -- Appendix: Timeline of events -- Notes