Месть - блюдо горячее

V nachale 1914 goda v Departamente polit͡sii gotovitsi͡a smena rukovodstva. Direktor predlagaet nachalʹniku ugolovnogo syska Aleksei͡u Nikolaevichu Lykovu sʺezditʹ s revizieĭ kuda-nibudʹ v glubinku, chtoby peresidetʹ smenu vlasti. Lykov vybiraet Ri͡azanʹ. Ego prii͡atelʹ general Taube prosit Aleksei͡a Nikolaevicha peredatʹ denezhnyĭ podarok svoemu byvshemu denshchiku Vasilii͡u Poludkinu, osevshemu v Ri͡azani. Pi͡atʹdesi͡at rubleĭ dli͡a otstavnogo denshchika, pristroivshegosi͡a storozhem na zavode, bolʹshie denʹgi. No podarok prinosit bedu - storozha ubivai͡ut i grabi͡at. Formalʹnai͡a komandirovka obretaet novyĭ smysl. Lykov schitaet dolgom pokaratʹ ubiĭt͡s byvshego denshchika svoego druga. On vykhodit na sled nekoego Egora Kni͡azeva po klichke Kni͡azʹ - cheloveka, otlichai͡ushchegosi͡a ambit͡sii͡ami i zhestokostʹi͡u. Odnako zaderzhatʹ ego v Ri͡azani ne udaëtsi͡a…

At the beginning of 1914, a change of leadership was being prepared in the Police Department. The director suggests that the head of the criminal investigation department, Alexei Nikolaevich Lykov, go with an audit somewhere in the countryside to sit out the change of power. Lykov chooses Ryazan. His friend General Taube asks Alexei Nikolaevich to give a monetary gift to his former orderly Vasily Poludkin, who settled in Ryazan. Fifty rubles is a lot of money for a retired orderly who got a job as a watchman at the factory. But the gift brings trouble — the guards are killed and robbed. A formal business trip takes on a new meaning. Lykov considers it his duty to punish the murderers of his friend's former orderly. He goes on the trail of a certain Egor Knyazev, nicknamed Prince, a man distinguished by ambition and cruelty. However, it is not possible to detain him in Ryazan…