General Khrapov newly appointed Governor-General of Siberia & soon-to-be Minister of the Interior is murdered in his official saloon carriage on his way from St Petersburg to Moscow. The killer disguised as Fandorin leaves a knife thrust up to the hilt in his victims chest & escapes through the window of the carriage. Can Fandorin escape suspicion? A battle of wills & ideals revolutionaries & traditionalists & good versus evil.