Vladimir Gilyarovsky, “the King of Reporters,” investigates the strange suicide of the brother of one of the employees of the famous “dressmaker” from the early 20th century, Nadezhda Petrovna Lamanova. An experienced reporter, accidentally arriving at the scene of the tragedy, immediately understood that the suicide was staged. And later it turned out that shortly before his death, the handsome young man had met a certain gentleman who turned out to be a pimp for male prostitutes—and that man lured the young poet into the society of men disguised in black half-masks and in Lamanova dresses… What happened at that meeting is unknown. But soon the young man died. And the traces of the crime led Gilyarovsky—almost to the very top—into circles of people of royal blood. So what connection did Lamanova herself have to all this?…