What connects the commander of the Zero special group, Colonel Rozhnov, with the criminal authority Kurlychkin? What unites the thief Grachevsky and the important investigator Margelov? Judge Valentina Shiryaeva needs to find answers to these questions, and then she will find out who killed her son with particular cruelty. The killers made their choice, and so did Valentina. Now she is ready to set foot on the path of lawlessness, take a hostage, do anything to ensure that the sentence of her heart is carried out.