Ivan Mazaev finds out that some children were left behind in a sinking school, and is slowly driven mad as he tries to save them. A parable on the theme of The Last Judgment, numerous catastrophic events reveal a certain ambiguity in their origins, accompanied by the terrible suspicion that the things going on are some kind of a performance or theatrical production.

A ship with doubles sails from the pier on the Moscow River, heading with a show program to one of the provincial Russian cities. The murder of Thatcher's look-alike that happened on board is being investigated by police captain Zharov.