The quiet town was buzzing like a disturbed beehive. After all, quite recently, Avdotya the milkmaid was found dead in a ravine, and now a woman was found stabbed to death in a vacant lot... Forensic investigator Dmitry Kolychev leafed through the yellowed pages of the case on the murder of Matilda Novinskaya, which occurred ten years ago. The criminal then inflicted three blows on Novinskaya with a stabbing weapon, and these were the same wounds that the two women killed over the past month had. This means that in the senseless chatter of Kolychev’s servant Vaska about the vengeful witch there were still rational grains, although it was impossible to admit that Madame Novinskaya, who had risen from the grave, was wandering around the city and destroying women. And a few days later, the townspeople were ready to believe in the existence of a witch - another murdered woman was found in the ravine...