A crime has been committed. The worst thing is murder... Who is the culprit? What are the motives for the crime? These and many related questions face police colonel Drobyshev and senior lieutenant Samarin. During the investigation, they encounter young people whose spiritual poverty is terrible in its moral consequences.

A young cashier of one of the enterprises with a large sum of money disappears. A group of employees of the Criminal Investigation Department is involved in the work.

New forces are coming to St. Petersburg, where the events of the film are unfolding. They are nouveau riche, businessmen, and creators capable of restoring St. Petersburg to its former splendor. The easily vulnerable, intelligent inhabitants of the old town, who have become accustomed to their former troubles, enter into difficult relations with them...