Since the time of F.M. Dostoevsky, the problem of crime and the inevitability of punishment has been highlighted more than once in Russian literature. It did not lose its relevance in Soviet times. The author of the action-packed detective story B.A. Mozhaev addresses precisely this burning problem. A young police officer from a distant taiga village, Vasily Serezhkin, is investigating a seemingly simple case of robbing a village store. One of the timber raftsmen is suspected of the crime. During the investigation, Serezhkin comes across the real criminal - a strong and intelligent man. But what worries him more than catching the culprit is that his fellow villagers have begun to believe rumors and sweeping slander. Contents: The power of the taiga The disappearance of a witness The fall of the forest king A day without end and without end