Case in Semipalatinsk, a police chief was stabbed to death in Semipalatinsk. In hot pursuit, the crime was solved, the killer was shot during arrest. The case has been archived. However, military intelligence officer Nikolai Lykov-Nefediev suspects that a fake figure was slipped to the investigation. In fact, the police chief was eliminated by agents of the British station, whom he pressed hard. And they blamed it on local criminals… Nikolai reported his suspicions to St. Petersburg. He suggested opening a new inquiry in secret from the local authorities. At his suggestion, an official of the special assignments of the Police Department, collegiate adviser Lykov, arrived in the city. Father and son together catch real killers in quiet Semipalatinsk. And the resident, in turn, is preparing another operation. Her victim should be Lieutenant Lykov-Nefediev…The Odessa Leaflet informs Lykov's assistant titular adviser Azvestopulo went to his parents in Odessa, and an accident happened there. The bandit-fanatic Stepan Balutsa killed the old people in their own house. Lykov urgently arrived to help Sergei to find and punish the scoundrel together with him. At the same time, the War Ministry asked Stolypin to send an experienced investigator there. German spies have obtained a secret plan for mining the Odessa Bay in case of war. Lykov and Azvestopulo are forced to conduct two inquiries at the same time. Things are going tight: it's not easy to find a farcical person in a farcical city. In addition, there are many German colonists in Odessa, and they almost completely work for German intelligence. Spies, raiders, smugglers - all rallied against the detectives…