Sam Stone, an Assistant U.S. Attorney from Birmingham, Alabama, visits his ex-wife, "Jonesy" Regina Jones Oliveira, in Rio de Janerio, Brazil. Some old enemies and criminals try to kill him and some new friends and his ex-wife try to save him. In his travels, Sam discovers some new life lessons about telling the truth, some old and new banjo tunings, and some unusual codes. He also learns the story of a fleeing Confederate's gift of gold to a young Confederado who settled in Americana, Brazil, in the mid-1860's and became a veteran of the War of the Triple Alliance.