Maria Kramer, the owner of a real-estate agency, was killed by robbers who attacked her in her own apartment—and it’s unlikely the criminals will be found. But her daughter didn’t believe the police’s version, so she turned to private detective Tatyana Ivanova. Tatyana’s offer from Irena came just in time: Tatyana had been out of work for a long time and, accordingly, had no money. So she took on this seemingly hopeless case. Naturally, her first thought was that Maria’s murder was connected to her professional activities. And indeed, on her first visit to the agency, Tatyana was convinced that not everything there was clean. The former deputy to the owner, Ostapchuk, had been running shady deals behind her back. But still, they didn’t kill Maria because of that. It seems the real cause lies in a love affair—and it leads back to a distant past, to the secret of how Irena was born…