Episode list

St. Petersburg, late 19th century. At the premiere of a play written by former lawyer Mikhail Zavarzin, a tragic incident occurs: actress Varvara Avilova shoots her partner with blanks and kills him for real. Zavarzin's former colleagues Viktor Roskevich and Nikolai Andronov are present at the premiere. To help Zavarzin, who is in love with Varvara, Andronov undertakes to protect her. But the more he gets to know the case, the more often he comes to the conclusion: Varvara had both a motive for the murder and the opportunity to change the gun.

Loving Roskevich gets into an unpleasant story: his beloved Olga finds him with a rival. As revenge, she posts an article in the Zhenskaya Doli newspaper, in which Roskevich appears in an unsightly light. Roskevich is suing the newspaper and threatening to ruin it. In search of a lawyer ready to defend their interests, the newspaper turns to Zavarzin.

Aglaya Yakunina, classmate of Nikolai Andronov's wife, is accused of murdering her sister. The prosecution is represented by prosecutor Gushchin, who dreams of winning the trial against the invincible Andronov, Aglaya's defender. His arguments are strong enough - Aglaya always quarreled with her sister over money, besides, both of them were in love with the manager, who mysteriously disappeared immediately after the murder.

Aglaya is released from prison, now she is a witness. Andronov asks her to tell everything about the day when her sister Lisa died. Despite the girl's tears, for some reason Nikolai does not believe her. Roskevich undertakes to defend in court the main suspect - the manager Mark, but the prosecutor smashes all versions to smithereens. To gain time and come up with a new plan, Roskevich breaks the nose of his client.

Lawyer Mikhail Zavarzin returns to the profession: he saves the obvious murderer Rodion Rydnik from punishment, whom the jury releases. Meanwhile, the merchant Kapiton Fortunatov is accused of setting fire to his own warehouse; a large consignment of goods burned down and the watchman died. Ruined and slandered, Fortunatov comes to Andronov for help, and he agrees to defend him in court. An unexpected incident greatly complicates the matter: the released Rodion Rydnik kills in cold blood the witness Osip, the manager Fortunatov, in a tavern.

An unexpected incident greatly complicates the business of the merchant. On the same evening, when the drunk Fortunatov comes to ask Andronov for help, his manager Osip Grishter dies in a tavern. He is killed for no reason, for no apparent reason, by Rodion Rydnik with a knife. Mikhail is on the verge of a nervous breakdown: it turns out that with his beautiful victory he killed an innocent person. Gushchin decides to use this circumstance to his advantage.

A prostitute in love with Roskevich, after listening to the predictions of a fortuneteller named Blind Martha about the eternal bliss awaiting them with Viktor in the next world, shoots Roskevich and herself. He kills himself on the spot, and the bullet intended for Roskevich passes a millimeter from the heart. Martha's entrepreneur, the swindler Daria, comes to Andronov and asks for protection in court. She is sure that the police will come for her soon, because she knew Roskevich and had long dreamed of getting even with him. Three years ago, he secured an acquittal for the murderer of her sister, Nina.

Roskevich still has not regained consciousness, Olga is anxiously looking after him. Lawyer Andronov is at a loss: at the trial, his client Daria gives out new details and makes him look like a complete fool. The interrogation of Blind Martha also does not give anything: the clairvoyant gives out only a stream of incoherent and vague sentences. The prosecutor becomes the last straw - he secretly tells that Borya, a young assistant lawyer, constantly goes to Gushchin.

The "capital murderer" keeps the whole city in fear - for four women, four women were stabbed to death. At the scene of the last crime, a suspect is detained - doctor Andrei Alekseevich. The old man claims that he found the girl already lying in a pool of blood and tried to help her. Roskevich undertakes to defend the doctor in court.

Roskevich defends Dr. Startsev in court, whom everyone considers the "capital murderer." During the meeting, the details of the crimes are revealed: it turns out that all the victims were once prostitutes, which only Startsev knew. Victor understands that the client lied to him. Did the lawyer really undertake to defend the monster?