Benjamin January investigates the murder of a 'conductor' of the
Underground Railway, helping slaves to freedom.
Benjamin January is called up to Vicksburg, deep in cotton-plantation
country, to help a wounded "conductor" of the Underground Railroad - the
secret network of safe-houses that guide escaping slaves to freedom.
When the chief "conductor" of the "station" is found murdered, Jubal
Cain - the coordinator of the whole Railroad system in Mississippi - is
accused of the crime. Since Cain can't expose the nature of his
involvement in the railroad, January has to step in and find the true
killer, before their covers are blown.
As January probes into the murky labyrinth of slaves, slave-holders, the
fugitives who follow the "drinking gourd" north to freedom and those who
help them on their way, he discovers that there is more to the situation
than meets the eye, and that sometimes there are no easy answers.