Petrograd, stolitsa Rossiyskiy imperii, 2023 god. Revolyutsiya ne sostoyalas, bolsheviki ne prishli k vlasti, a tsar Nikolay III delit upravlenie stranoy s progressivnyim premer-ministrom Dmitriem Orlovyim. V eto vremya 20-letniy Erast Fandorin nachinaet kareru v syisknom upravlenii politsii. Zanimayas ne samoy interesnoy rabotoy, on uznaet strannuyu novost: vladelets nefteprovodnoy kompanii, molodoy millioner strelyaet sebe v visok v tsentre stolitsyi na glazah u desyatkov lyudey. Samoubiystvo popadaet na zapis kameryi robota-gorodovogo. Fandorin nachinaet podozrevat, chto delo slozhnee, chem kazhetsya, i beretsya za svoe pervoe sereznoe rassledovanie.