A Duma deputy and his wife have been murdered. While investigating the crime, Major of Criminal Investigation Anatoly Topol encounters an unusual phenomenon — the so‑called “secret red mercury”. Red mercury has all the properties of a typical synthetic substance, but its energy content is many times greater than that of plutonium. Who is developing this mysterious “weapon” and for what purpose, under conditions of the strictest secrecy? Solving this mystery leads Anatoly to very high levels of power...