Ivan Pavlovich Podushkin, the secretary of businesswoman Nora, is fatally unlucky! Once again, the hostess has decided to play at being a great detective—Niro Wolf is resting. Their client made a bet with some money bag that he would find, in an unfamiliar city, a person he had never seen in his life. Only one thing is known: his name is Mikhail Strizhenov. The task, to put it mildly, isn’t easy—especially considering that it’s precisely Vanya who must rush around the search for Mikhail in the tiny Czech resort of Koval’sk. To make matters worse, Vanya’s mom also comes to Koval’sk with her longtime nemesis friend, Koka. In short, as the poet said, it’s a funeral with dances. But Vanya is unexpectedly lucky: he immediately gets on Strizhenov’s trail. However, he rejoices too early—everyone who knew Mikhail closely is dying like flies. Yet Vanya doesn’t believe it’s just an accident, and he works out the killer. The criminal sets up a meeting with Podushkin. Vanya goes to it like a rabbit to a boa constrictor. Now a deadly threat hangs over the very gentleman of private investigation as well…