The corpse of an unknown woman is found in the city - the ritual nature of the crime suggests the appearance of a maniac in the city. To help staff investigator Rita Storozheva, professional psychiatrist Ilya Lavrov, who has already participated in the capture of maniacs, engages in the investigation. Personal motives and feelings, painful events of the past, the inability to make open contact - all this deprives the investigation of objectivity and gives rise to a series of dramatic mistakes.