Judge Irina Polyakova was entrusted with a simple matter: to recognize the wife of party functionary Ilya Chernov, who disappeared five years ago, as dead. Over all these years, no one has proven that Chernov killed his wife, although no one saw her alive. Probably, life with someone who, taking advantage of his official position, constantly cheated, turned out to be unbearable. So the woman either decided to disappear, or... did her husband help her do this by killing her and hiding her body? The police were unable to find evidence confirming that Chernov committed a crime. And if he is not caught, he is not a murderer. What promised to be an easy matter led to a dead end: after all, while still a student, Irina was in love with this strong and bright man, and for this love she was very ashamed for many years...