The Moscow region town of New Jordan was shocked by the murder of Maria Shelest. Her body was found in the Rotten Pond. The local search worked quickly - in hot pursuit and witness testimony, Ruslan Sultanov, who was pursuing the girl and threatening her, was immediately detained. The case materials were already being prepared to be handed over to the court, but then... the priest of the local church, Father Lavrenty, confessed to the murder. But he flatly refused further conversations and explanations. This is a scandal! Colonel Gushchin sends police captain Ekaterina Petrovskaya to negotiate with the priest. As soon as she arrived in the city, she learns that almost simultaneously with the discovery in the Rotten Pond, not far from that place, two badly burnt corpses were found in the Horde forest... Katya could not even imagine what kind of case she was faced with with an easy... no, not an easy hand Colonel Gushchin. And what strange and frightening events lie ahead!