Gogol works as a judicial clerk in the Third Section of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery. He is beginning to try his hand at literature. His writing career has not taken off — he publishes a book, then, after it is panned by critics, buys up the entire print run with his last bit of money and burns it, getting drunk and sobbing. He dreams of Pushkin's fame and even arranges to meet him so that Alexander Sergeyevich can evaluate his work, but at the last moment decides not to interrupt him during a card game. By chance, he meets the famous investigator Yakov Petrovich , who takes him on a business trip to investigate the mysterious murders of young women in the village of Dikanka, Poltava Governorate, where horrific and mysterious events are taking place.