Alexander Zvyagintsev’s new book is unique notes from the prosecutorial and investigative life that you will definitely never come up with. The famous writer, who devoted many years to serving Themis, appears in this collection in the unique role of a professional translator - talented, sparkling, capable of translating formal language investigative reports on the uneven conversation of life itself. Once upon a time, this is a heart-to-heart conversation. Sometimes - bitter humor. Sometimes it’s Saltykov’s satire. 22 stories - and a whole gallery of portraits, destinies and characters of the era, real, unimagined - appear in the blind shine of Themis's scales. Death - or life. Loyalty - or betrayal. Love - or hate. What can you say about the author? Chekhov's gift. Great life experience. And the understanding that in modern fiction there is nothing more valuable than fact, the details of human destiny. From them the hot flesh of life grows.