Viktor Vetrov, a successful businessman, is accused by a mysterious blackmailer of murdering his wife. His life turns into hell: his business collapses, his friends betray him, and the investigative authorities are desperately digging the earth, trying to find at least some evidence and send Vetrov to jail. The only person who took Victor’s side was his former lover, Investigative Committee investigator Inga Alme. But over time, she begins to doubt the man’s innocence when she learns that his first wife, Tatyana, also mysteriously disappeared many years ago. Both of Victor's wives are soon found dead. The handwriting of the crimes exactly matches the handwriting of the “Kuntsevo Ripper”, whom all the security forces in Moscow have been searching in vain for many years.
The plot is tied to unusual works of art. Each of the paintings depicts a sleeping man, and the soul is enclosed in the canvas itself. This curse came to the modern world from an artist who loves his wife to madness. When she was dying, the master, by the power of his feelings, imprisoned her soul in a portrait. This legend inspired businessman Pavel Voronov to collect a collection of paintings with sleeping heroes. Photographer Kostya and art critic Agnes help him in this. The artist Alexey Tikhonov is also hunting for unusual paintings, who dreams of continuing the work of the master and learning how to enclose souls in portraits.
Major Oleg Gromov arrives in Beloyarsk, one of the biggest railway hubs in the country. He comes there to pay a visit to an old friend Vyshenkov, his former martial arts coach who now is the Head of the Security Department at the railway. Happy to see his old trainee, Vyshenkov promptly offers him to spearhead a squad of the Rapid Action Team (RAT) that was created to guard the rails from the rampant gangs. However, Gromov has his own plans for life: back in the capital, there’s an exciting and generously paid job waiting for him. But everything changes once Vyshenkov falls victim to a bandit attack. Gromov sets his mind on staying in Beloyarsk and becoming the leader of RAT. With the help of his new subordinates, passionate investigator Dmitry Kulikov, and psychologist Irina Tikhonova, he starts his own investigation of the railway case. He’s up to challenge a dangerous and invisibleenemy that is ready to do anything to silence the truth about the railroad affairs.