Novels about real heroes of their era—the employees of the Soviet militia, people for whom a service feat is just ordinary work. In her apartment, actress Marianna Polyanskaya is brutally murdered. The investigation is assigned to Captain Vladislav Uryadov and Senior Lieutenant Aleksandr Deev. Operatives identify the main suspects—the murdered woman’s niece, who had recently bequeathed the apartment to her shortly before her death, and the actress’s ex-husband. Both are on the run, meaning they really are involved in the killing of their relative. The detectives organize the search and soon detain the runaways. But during questioning, an unexpected fact emerges: it turns out the actress’s niece was in the apartment of her aunt on that fateful day and saw everything with her own eyes… This was very recent. When honor and unwavering loyalty to a dangerous profession were the main and obligatory qualities of Soviet militiamen…