What a twist! Ivan Podushkin is forced to change his noble name—yes, to what?! Now he’s Vladimir Zaduikhvost. And it’s all because the gentleman of detective work left his mistress Eleanor, offended that she believed cruel slanders. Fifteen-year-old Varvara appeared and announced that Ivan is the father of her one-year-old daughter. Imagine that! Ivan left in what he was wearing, without a passport. In his grief, he got drunk—and in the morning he woke up among the Morelli brothers, circus performers. They helped him obtain a new passport. Now he’s their ringmaster, producer, and… card dealer! He plays poker, in a pair, with a monkey named Mimi, fooling around with all kinds of nonsense. But Ivan Pavlovich still wants to restore his honest name. In search of Varvara and the child, he ends up at the “Maria” center, where strange things happen to children. And who founded this center… Ivan Pavlovich Podushkin! Who is he? His namesake—or an impostor?..