ANONYMOUS

Modern times. A large businessman, Anisim Moskovkin, has his apartment burned down. The victim believes the apartment was set on fire out of hooligan motives: nothing was stolen, but a porcelain middle finger was planted in it.

Investigator Orest Volin, who has been assigned to the case, tells his patron—KGB general in retirement Vorontsov—about what happened. He offers Volin to read the next batch of deciphered diaries of Nestor Zagorsky, in which the house on Sretenka Boulevard also appears— the very place where Moskovkin lives now. Perhaps this in some way can help in the investigation.

The next memoir by Nestor Vasilyevich reports that after the dwarf Jian Jian-goche, who stole the diamond "Tear of Buddha," spit at Zagorsky with a poisoned arrow, the famous detective died. However, with the help of magic, Tibetan lamas—summoners—manage to return the soul back into Zagorsky’s body.

Nestor Vasilyevich is alive, but he doesn’t come to himself and doesn’t move. Ganzzal, returning with the gentleman to Russia, finds a Chinese healer who brings the detective back to normal life. But Zagorsky doesn’t have time to be glad. A Chinese emissary arrives—someone called Li Xiaoxun. From their conversation it becomes clear that in China it’s believed that Zagorsky, upon finding the diamond "Tear of Buddha," stole it—rather than returning it to its rightful place in the Beijing temple of Yonghegong. To protect his reputation and not endanger his Chinese teacher, Zagorsky starts searching for the diamond again.