Paris at the end of the 19th century attracts with the smell of roasted chestnuts and impressionist exhibitions. Dreaming of seeing a still life by Van Gogh, a modest art teacher from the Tsarskoye Selo gymnasium stops at a small hotel on the island of Saint-Louis. Here he meets his acquaintance - a famous English journalist, who is soon found dead in his own room. At first glance, it appears that the Englishman was shot. While the police are hunting for the runaway porter, the guests begin to suspect each other...