1895, St. Petersburg. Anastasia Ardashnikova, one of the first women to receive a diploma from the Sorbonne Faculty of Law, returns from France to her homeland. Anastasia has extensive knowledge of advanced investigative techniques that are practically unknown in Russia and is full of hopes to become a criminologist. Not everyone understands her professional fervor. Anastasia's entourage is confident that she is engaged in an unusual business for a woman, and the first experience of a collision with the Russian detective police in the person of bailiff Taras Smolokurov reveals how far Anastasia is from domestic realities.