“I have never written detective stories, perhaps this is the first and last. I just suddenly wanted to dive into a new genre for myself and diversify it in my own way: add a little humor, a little sadness, a little eccentricity and even a little fantasy to the detective plot - in a word, I decided to surprise with something unusual. And I surprised myself! Having completed the story, I gave it to my most critical friends to read, still in manuscript. Someone praised, someone made comments, someone gave advice... But there were also those who categorically demanded a detailed justification for the behavior of my heroes and my inventions - from a scientific, legal, technical, medical point of view... I began to feverishly study textbooks in chemistry, chemical engineering, medicine, jurisprudence, I was already on the verge of writing a full-fledged dissertation, but I stopped in time because I realized: I would never be a chemist, mechanic, lawyer or cardiologist, and, probably, I didn’t need to. The only thing that became clear was the need for a short introduction...”