Russia, 19th century. A retired lieutenant Alexei Polyansky receives an invitation to serve in the newly formed Corps of Gendarmes. He is immediately given his first assignment; investigating the “Knaves of Hearts,” a Moscow gang engaged in affairs with real estates and selling fake paintings. To the lieutenant’s great surprise, the threads of these seemingly banal crimes lead to the disclosure of an ancient mystery connected to the disappearance of a famous diamond called “The Rose of Versailles,” which Louis XIV gave to his mistress, Louise de La Vallière.
Soon after that, an even more mysterious crime is committed; inexplicable events occur on the Yaroslavl Estate belonging to count Shakhovsky, an avid collector of ancient weapons and armours. The owner is visited by the ghost of count Dracula. The old count dies under mysterious circumstances. The investigation leads Polyansky to a certain madam Libush, a lady with a very dark past…