The woman staying in room number four has gone missing. Cortina Dirks doesn't know what had happened to her. She doesn't want to know. But an insistent bird on the window sill will draw her into a mystery with murder, mayhem, and a magical magpie who seems to know what is going on. Dragonbone Gulch is a boomtown situated on the edge of a monster-filled wilderness filled with ancient ruins and priceless gold. Every day the stagecoach brings more treasure hunters seeking their fortune and glory, but danger enough lurks in the saloons and back alleys of town. Skill with a sword may be all that stands between life and death in a place where some of the monsters look like men. And that dragon skull on the wall behind the bar had to come from somewhere, didn't it? 'The Magpie Pendant' takes place in Dragonbone Gulch but is not part of the main serial series.