In 1973, on the highway to the sea in Krasnodar Krai, a gang operates posing as traffic police officers. They stop cars, rob drivers and passengers, and kill them. The only survivor is a student named Lyudmila. Major of the police Andrey Svetlov begins an investigation using Lyudmila as a witness. He finds one of the criminals, but the man is dead within a day—his accomplices removed him to avoid getting caught. The major realizes he is about to face dangerous criminals, but he has no idea what role Lyudmila is playing in this story.