Journalist Claudia Novak is in crisis. Following the publication of one of her articles, she was attacked and decided to leave the profession, as she feels powerless in her fight against injustice. Soon, she is contacted by her acquaintance from the Investigative Committee, Pavel Smirnov, who asks her to write a piece about a possible serial killer.
In his view, such a piece could spur the investigative authorities into acknowledging the fact that a killer is on the loose in the city. In various parts of St Petersburg, not far from sewage outlets, three female corpses, in varying states of preservation, have surfaced almost simultaneously. The bones, with flesh missing in places, bear strange notches made by a saw-like object. Claudia becomes drawn into the case, as she senses a vague connection between it and the long-ago murder of her friend. In both instances, the perpetrator has braided the victims’ hair.
