Maria Vetrova is a young detective whose fate has assigned her to serve in the small provincial town of Izumrudny. However, her hopes for a quiet posting in the backwoods quickly fade: Maria soon realizes that even this peaceful town is rife with intense passions and high-profile cases. Her superiors give her a difficult assignment—to reopen the investigation into a crime committed eighteen years ago. At the time, Dmitry Rykov, who has just returned to town, was accused of the murder. As Maria delves into the tangled case, she encounters a whole series of obstacles. The local residents treat her with caution and distrust, while members of the town’s elite are shrouded in a web of old secrets and intrigues. Moreover, Maria begins to be haunted by disturbing nocturnal visions that strangely echo the course of the investigation. Gradually, she realizes that Izumrudny’s past holds far more dark secrets than anyone could have imagined.
