For some time now, a brazen and bloodthirsty killer has been operating in Severoelansk. He killed the family of the rich man Ushakov: young children, mother, servants, wife. Ushakov was waiting for her at the theater at that time - after all, she is one of the leading actresses. Detective agents quickly find the imaginary criminal, but it all looks like a setup. Then another brutal murder occurs in the hotel - also the leading actress of the local theater Kanevskaya and her lover. What is this, a coincidence? Involuntarily, the head of the detective police, Tartishchev, remembered the suicide of the theater prima donna Muromtseva, which occurred several months ago. And a number of evidence that emerged during the investigation of the bloody crimes indicate that she was also killed by slipping poison instead of dental drops...