1922. Moscow. In the famous Domino café on Tverskaya Street, the most motley crowd gathers: showbiz glitter, poets and artists, gangsters and former criminals, newly minted “generals” of the Civil War—along with employees of the militia and the OGPU, who attentively watch all visitors and gather information that helps solve many crimes committed in Moscow. The main character of the novel, a talented journalist Oleg Leonidovich, plays no small role in this whole criminal story: in an astonishing way, he is always right at the center of the unfolding events.