Kositov, a well-known businessman in the city, turns out to be killed, which gives the case greater resonance. Zoya finds out that the businessman was a witness in the case of the murder of a young woman Streletskaya. She was found dead at a campsite nine years ago. The killer also carved a smiley face on Streletskaya's body. Only if Kostov's smiley face was sad, then hers was cheerful. What do these scary marks mean?

Another corpse is found near the ill-fated lake. The next victim of a serial killer is a girl named Inga. She was also strangled, and her left shoe is missing. There is still little evidence, the case is being transferred to a regional specialist. Zoya needs to find the killer before the case is taken away from her...