In the course of the election campaign, a group of influential people from government agencies are trying to ensure the victory of their protégé, Governor Gridin. It's going to be a tough fight: Gridin has serious rivals — the mayor Astrakhanov and the oligarch Berlinsky. Unexpectedly, an article by journalist Kozlov appears in a Moscow newspaper, accusing the police department of staging an assassination attempt on the current governor. Some time later, Kozlov is found murdered in his apartment. Law enforcement authorities believe that the murder was a contract killing. The investigation begins. The private detective Joker, who has come from Moscow to the regional centre on behalf of an unknown person, begins his investigation into the journalist's murder...