Konstantin Alekseev, a famous industrialist and amateur actor, comes to the provincial town of X. The old fortune teller Zaikina died here, who for no apparent reason bequeathed her apartment to Alekseev. On the day of arrival, a mysterious bank robbery also occurs: the cashier is killed, the killer escapes. They are already waiting at Alekseev’s apartment, and from now on not a single little thing, not a single nuance will turn out to be an accident, an empty coincidence. Oh yes, one more trifle: the 19th century is coming to an end. The new novel by G. L. Oldie is historical and fantastic at the same time , is thoroughly permeated with the realities of time and eternal problems. Masks grow to faces, people, events, things - everything is built into a single mise-en-scène, and if you applaud well after the curtain goes up, the actors may come out to bow.