Confrontation

A dismembered body is found in the bushes along the road to the airport of Nardyn, triggering a high-profile investigation. Colonel Kostenko travels from Moscow to lead the case while investigators begin linking the crime to a local taxi driver. The case immediately suggests a serial-like pattern rather than a single motive.

As the probe unfolds, taxi driver Grigoriy Milinko is fingered as a person of interest in the murder. Kardava’s in-depth work begins to peel back the connections and shows how the case may hinge on Milinko’s fate. The investigation grows more complex as the trail stretches back across decades.

Forensic work links Milinko to a dead man from 1945; the identity is traced through fingerprints found in Nardyn and sent to East German records. Berlin archives reveal that the real Milinko was a Marine who was killed and dismembered in the Wrocław area. The archive points to Nikolai Krotov as the true culprit behind the wartime crimes.

Nikolai Krotov defects to the German side to prove loyalty, carrying the wounded political leader Kozel and acting as a provocateur. His denunciations cause the shooting of a large group of Soviet prisoners of war. This marks the start of a long, dual life that will thread through the war and beyond.

After his early acts, Krotov is released and taken to a hospital where he receives experimental treatment for stuttering. He trains in the Abwehr’s commando school and is deployed into the USSR rear on sabotage missions. The man is built as a professional saboteur for the Nazi regime.

Krotov is imprisoned in a concentration camp for a year after an incident, and the German Security Service later uses him on a secret assignment. His earlier crimes are officially forgotten as he is repurposed for new tasks. This marks a murky chapter in his wartime career.

In 1945, Krotov fights with Vlasov’s Army in the defense of Breslau but deserts to avoid returning to the Nazis. He kills Grigoriy Milinko, steals his documents and uniform, and then slips into the Red Army. After the war, he travels north to Nardyn and begins a quiet life as a taxi driver.

Years pass as Krotov lives in the north, hiding his past. He resolves to escape to the West with a fortune of gold and jewels, and recruits Anna Petrova, a partner in a shadowy organization that controls gold mines. Together they begin a new, illegal hunt for wealth.

Krotov and Petrova kill Michael Gonchakov in a bid to claim a huge gold nugget, but their attempt ends in failure as the prize slips from their grasp. The crime deepens their criminal enterprise and tightens their hold on the loot. The incident escalates the scheme to flee abroad.

When Petrova becomes pregnant, Krotov does not hesitate to kill and dismember his former mistress, securing his secrets and remaining steps toward departure. The violence underscores how far he will go to protect his plan. The body count grows as he consolidates his criminal empire.

Krotov, aided by relatives in Smolensk, robs a jewelry store to further swell his hoard of gold and jewels. The heists demonstrate his willingness to cross lines and expand his network. The haul increases the pressure of a possible escape.

Having accumulated enough loot, Krotov prepares for one last break to a foreign country. The investigators Kostenko and Kardava close in on him, tracking him to Adler where he seizes a hostage and attempts to hijack a plane. A trained special forces group stops him, arresting the traitor.