Memoirs of the famous academician Khomutov are being prepared for publication. The editor-in-chief sends the best journalist Ekaterina Zorina to him. Khomutov, an elderly but very interesting man, shows Katya photographs of his loved ones: his best friend, his wife, graduate students, his only daughter. They all passed away. To Zorina, this pattern seems more than strange. She manages to meet with the investigator who led the case of the disappearance of graduate students forty years ago. Like the journalist, the old operative considers the story dark and absolutely criminal...