The city philistine Domna Platonovna-a merchant of lace, and sometimes... and "live goods" - is engaged in pimping. Fate confronts her with a young intelligent woman-a noblewoman, a colonel, Lekanida Petrovna, whose difficult life trials led to a moral decline. Domna Platonovna tells her tragic story with imperturbable calmness, presenting her own unseemly actions that push the unfortunate woman as the greatest benefits rendered to her.
Victor Grach and Leonid Osadchy are dangerous criminals. Considering himself a strong and independent person, who is allowed everything, Victor wants to see his younger brother Shurka as well. And he, obeying the authority of Victor, becomes an involuntary participant in serious crimes and, in the end, is in the dock. A sentence is not passed for a long time, because it is important for a judge to understand the degree of guilt of each of the brothers, to get to the bottom of the truth, to find out what turned ordinary guys into robbers and killers.
A locker room janitor at the train station notices that a suitcase was put in a locker by a man, but pulled out by another man. This suitcase appeared to be stuffed with money. This incident allows a police detective to uncover a huge criminal organization responsible for theft, smuggling and murder.
This play is one of the repertory plays of Russian theater – in the first year of production (1878) it was on the stage of seventy provincial theaters. The main interest of the audience was the triangular relationship conceived according to the plot as the basis of a dramatic intrigue.
