A man walked out of his house—and disappeared. He dissolved into space. An ordinary story for a big city where there are no watchful grandmothers on benches and where children prefer watching gadgets instead of looking around. And what trouble is there if the old swindler Mikhail Groys has vanished? Who will cry for him? But it turns out there are people for whom he is dear. Private detectives Makar Ilyushin and Sergey Babkin begin investigating and quickly get on the trail of the kidnapper. Or does this trail lead to a dead end? Is the life of a swindler worth a precious diadem? A bird that flew into the house is a bad omen. But what if you yourself lured a frightened sparrow into a trap—and suddenly you find instead a predatory, cunning owl? Trouble is certain. Will the victim be the bird catcher himself? Read about it in Elena Mikhalkova’s new detective story “Close the Door After the Owl.”