For a long time, the police department had suspected that somewhere in Eastern Siberia there was a hideout for runaway criminals. Investigators called it “runaway rooms.” The clients of these rooms escaped from hard labor and hid in the Siberian wilderness. And while they were unsuccessfully being hunted on the roads, they stayed there. Someone provided them shelter, helped them change their appearance, gave them medical assistance, and provided new documents. And after a few months, when the police stopped looking for the runaways, they appeared in the capitals.
Councillor of the bench Lykov was sent on an official business trip to faraway Turukhansk. There he received operational information that the secret hideout was located in Irkutsk Governorate. Exactly where—had to be searched for. Irkutsk had long been called the capital of runaways. The best city in Siberia, like a magnet, attracted all kinds of riffraff.
Upon arriving in the city, the detective understood that the search would not be easy…