As surgeons labor to save the Sniffer, events of his and Viktor's investigation into the beheaded bodies of a senior investor and a petty thief show what lead up to the life-threatening shooting.

Over one jar of red caviar, three supermarket security guards are brought down by a brooding shoplifter with a silencer. Against doctor's orders, Viktor wants the recuperating Sniffer's help.

An autistic child electrocutes his father, unaware he's been taught to kill. Who on the short list of suspects is guilty - the adulterous wife, the invalid sister, the blackmailing nurse or the scheming co-worker?

When two intelligence agents disappear together, Ukrainian Intelligence fears conversion to a third party but tries to operate without help from the General's Intelligence Service to find them.

Viktor's team investigates three men who were inside the expensive apartment of a poor college student/stripper the day she was murdered.

Several concurrent investigations test Viktor's friendship with the Sniffer, some of which bear these features: a missing quadriplegic, criminal malpractice, a missing finger, "ghost" men and a 1980s children's show.

As Viktor prepares an arrest team against his friend, the Sniffer awakens in the clutches of the "ghost" men, aiming to recruit him with a very tempting proposal.