In Semipalatinsk, the police chief is murdered. Right on the heels of the crime, the killer is caught and shot during the arrest. The case is handed over to the archive. However, military intelligence officer Nikolai Lykov-Nefedyev suspects that the investigation was fed a dummy figure. In reality, the police chief was eliminated by agents of the British residency—whom he had pressed hard. And the blame was dumped on local criminals...
Nikolai reported his suspicions to Petersburg. He suggested starting a new inquiry in secret from local authorities. At his suggestion, a clerk of special assignments from the Police Department, collegiate adviser Lykov, arrives in the city. Father and son together catch the real killers in quiet Semipalatinsk. And the resident, in turn, is preparing another operation—its victim is supposed to be Lieutenant Lykov-Nefedyev…