The air in the village of Bakeyevo was thick with a sinister sort of revelry on the night of June the 26th. In a rented house, far from the watchful eyes of the parish, a company of men gathered to indulge in the most forbidden of stimulants. One fellow, the ringleader of this wretched feast, summoned a runner to deliver a parcel of narcotic poison under the cover of darkness.

What followed was a scene of pure horror. The buyer divided the vile substance among his guests. Almost instantly, the atmosphere turned from manic glee to a death rattle. Two poor devils succumbed to acute poisoning, their lives snuffed out in a heartbeat, while seven others were hauled away to the infirmary, trembling and broken.

The detectives of the Investigative Committee descended upon the scene like hawks. A search of the premises and the persons of the suspects yielded a grim harvest: one hundred and forty-nine small packets of the same poison, neatly wrapped and ready for sale to some other unsuspecting wretch.

The law has now cast its net. Four men are in irons. Two were the masters of this illicit trade, the third served as the midnight courier, and the fourth was the host of that fatal party. They now sit in a cold cell, awaiting the judge's gavel.

The charges are severe indeed. For the attempt to peddle these poisons on a grand scale and for operating as an organised gang of scoundrels, they face the dread silence of the penitentiary for fifteen, perhaps twenty years.

It seems the tide of crime is rising across the land; only recently, in the town of Zarechny, three other villains were plucked from their dens for the heinous crimes of kidnapping and extortion. The gallows may not be the end, but the iron bars of the gaol certainly await these men.