In taking a short cut through the town of Harcourt Junction, Texas on their way to Dallas, Tod and Buz walk into an armed standoff initiated by a group of men led by David Job who take the two, among others, hostage. They will eventually learn that David is an ex-con who served five years in prison for a bank robbery he says he did not commit. He wants justice, and has brought all those he believes were responsible for his imprisonment back to "the scene of the crime", namely the courthouse where he was tried and convicted. Those people include Sheriff Hank Drake, his father Emlyn Job, his "former" girlfriend Ann O'Neil (who did not testify on his behalf at the trial), and the twelve people people who sat on the jury. But David's main goal is to try in a kangaroo court the person most responsible, town bigwig Bob Harcourt Jr., who he believes orchestrated the conviction, the Harcourts who have always gotten what they wanted in town. David is to act as prosecutor and judge, his end goal to have a guilty verdict and an ultimate sentence of death. Those in court have to try and persuade David that his brand of justice is in fact not.
—Huggo