A prosperous family of businessman Rudnev is being terrorized by phone calls. He asks detective Vyacheslav Smirnov to look into what’s happening. At first, the case seems like a trifle. But during the search for the phone terrorist, Rudnev’s mother dies. It turns out that the Moscow police are already investigating a series of mysterious deaths—when, on the eve of the victim’s death, a ghost of death hands them a ring.
How are these events connected to the famous Roman poisoner Locusta and to the tragic love story of the Austrian prince and Countess Maria Vechera?