Vershinin is investigating a shootout on the road in which Gubin was wounded and five people were killed, but for some reason Masha, a witness, was left alive. He forbids her to tell anyone that she was at the scene of the shooting.

The investigation does not have enough evidence to prove Pavlov's guilt in torturing Gubin. Vershinin is forced to let him go. Pugachev, outraged by the fact that the killer is on the loose, gets drunk in a bar. It is there that Andrei encounters Pavlov again. Upon seeing the colonel, the criminal begins to insult him. An enraged Vershinin drags him outside. Pugachev, who arrived at the noise, discovers Pavlov shot dead, and Andrei lying unconscious nearby.