After a corporate party, a mutilated girl, Karina Yakushkina, is found on the beach by the lake. She is barely alive and soon falls into a coma. The victim doesn't have a left shoe. The forest next to this beach is called the "Forest of the Murderer", many years ago the body of a strangled girl was found there. Now everyone in the city is sure that the killer has returned. Information has surfaced that Kovalkov was recently released from prison, allegedly having committed a similar crime several years ago. Pugacheva was in charge of his case, but she is sure that Kovalkov is innocent.