When Chinese headman Wei Shing stumbles across a valuable new gold seam on the frontier, he sets to figuring out how to enrich himself as much as he can. But when the body of a murdered European woman turns up on the Chinese walking trail, Wei Shing finds himself implicated in her death.
Shing finds himself facing sudden dangers on two fronts, from both European and Chinese. On the European side, the mysterious 'red-haired, one-eared man' has witnessed him with the white woman's body, implicating Shing in her murder. On the Chinese side, Shing's status as headman becomes increasingly complicated when Lei's intentions are made very clear.
Haunted by the possibility his brother Sun is involved in Annie's death, Shing hides his suspicions while urgently trying to find the truth. Meanwhile, Lei gets closer to uncovering Shing's betrayal of the Brotherhood, while juggling a mysterious message from her father from China.
Lei strikes a deal with Shing to keep the secret gold seam operation running. Meanwhile, Tom is dragged into prison and pinned for Annie's murder, but Belle and Hattie realise that the clues point to the Chinese.
