The State Counsellor

Russian Empire, late 19th century. In the ministerial carriage of a courier train, an unknown person killed the former commander of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes, the Siberian Governor-General Khrapov, who was heading through Moscow to his place of duty. From the security report it follows that Khrapov was killed by State Councilor Erast Petrovich Fandorin, whose duties included ensuring the security of the Governor General during his stay in Moscow. The emergency incident was described by eyewitnesses as follows: a fashionable, slightly stuttering gentleman, 35 years old, with gray temples and a black mustache, entered the carriage during a stop in Klin and introduced himself appropriately. Since the guards had with them a detailed description of the state councilor Fandorin, no suspicions arose. The “State Councilor” proceeded into Khrapov’s compartment. A few minutes later the general was found killed, the criminal fled through the window. At the crime scene, the killer left a dagger with the mysterious abbreviation “BG”. However, upon arrival in Moscow, Khrapov's escort meets the real Fandorin and becomes convinced that the killer was only posing as a state councilor. Erast Petrovich himself begins an immediate investigation. He knows what the letters "BG" mean - it is the autograph of the members of the mysterious Battle Group. He knows that only high-level officials in Moscow and St. Petersburg could know about the mission entrusted to him to protect Khrapov. Where do the threads of this crime lead? Who runs the mysterious "BG"? Soon, the Vice-Director of the Police Department, Prince Pozharsky, arrives from St. Petersburg to help Fandorin. With his appearance, the story takes the most unexpected turn...