Душегубы

The year is 1984. A traffic police inspector disappears in the forests near Vitebsk. It seems that a particularly dangerous gang is operating in the area, robbing village shops. Leonid Ipatiev, an investigator for special cases, arrives from Minsk. While searching for a traffic cop in the forest, they find the corpse of a strangled young girl, Lena Rogovaya. Mikhail Shakhnovich, one of the most experienced local investigators, is assigned to the murder of Rogovaya. Ipatiev suspects that the disappearance of the traffic cop and the murder of the girl may be connected.…

Ipatiev invites Olga, a department store saleswoman, to the restaurant, whose brother is a witness in one of Shakhnovich's cases. Upon learning about this, Mikhail wants to recruit Olga as an informant, threatening to imprison his brother. Meanwhile, the corpse of a girl who was strangled in winter is found in an abandoned building. Ipatiev is trying to convince his superiors of the existence of a serial strangler.

Despite the opposition of Shakhnovich and his boss, Makarsky, Ipatiev returns to work at the Vitebsk Prosecutor's office. The local opera Mandrik and the expert Asya are working with him. Together they investigate the "capercaillie" — the strangulation of a girl with her own scythe. But this time Shakhnovich turns out to be right — it's just a "domestic thing", the murder of a friend on the grounds of jealousy.

Shakhnovich, blackmailing Olga, learns about Leonid's father's schizophrenia. Frightened, Olga begins to avoid Ipatiev, and her brother Vitalik prepares for a robbery with the gang. Meanwhile, Shakhnovich's daughter Sveta meets Larin, a retired criminologist, in the park, photographing a dead girl.…

The prosecutor's office is reaching out to the buyer for whom Larin took the pictures — this is a pervert civil servant, according to the description, ideally suited to the portrait of a maniac. However, while he is in the bullpen and testifying, another girl is found strangled in the field.

A murdered woman was found in a telephone booth near the hotel, from which the killer called Ipatiev. The caller to Ipatiev turns out to be Chebukin, an internationalist soldier who recently returned from Afghanistan. When Leonid gets on his trail, the killer takes him hostage.

At the disco, Nina, Sveta's friend, has a conflict with her ex-boyfriend. Nina is later found strangled. Ipatiev goes to the place of the girl's death. Shakhnovich allows Leonid to talk to his daughter…

The suspect Takmyrov dies during detention, Ipatiev has not been able to find out whether he was a strangler. Meanwhile, Asya can't stand it and secretly posts ads about the maniac around the city — perhaps this way at least someone will be able to warn about the danger and save. However, after reading the ads, the killer becomes enraged and starts killing several girls a day.

The search for the red "Zaporozhets" killer is unsuccessful, and Asya offers her candidacy to catch the strangler "on bait". She confesses to Mandrik and Ipatiev that she personally posted the ads around the city and feels guilty for provoking the strangler to new murders.

Graphologists manage to find a match — the strangler is identified. It turns out to be the one who was there all the time. The maniac tries to escape, but runs into Mandrik and Ipatiev.…