The professional neighbor, Baev, is an experienced property raider who moves into an apartment in a Stalin‑era high‑rise with the incomplete Malyutin family. Baev begins to drive the Malyutins out of their only home, using legal but inhumane methods.

Baev, upon learning that Nadezhda is a local pediatrician, fakes the calls and sends Nadezhda to all the seedy places in the area — from brothels to sectarians.