Dushanbe?
- Uncle? Poorly.
And last time it was your
aunt from Moldova...
My first cousin.
- I thought you said...
- She passed away.
Yes... We're all mortal, Detochkin...
All but mortal.
But if people did not die,
we wouldn't be able
to sell life insurance, right?
You cannot deny, Detochkin, that
I give you special attention and care.
Each time your relatives
get sick or die,
I grant you unpaid leave.
You're an exceptionally
understanding manager.
That's true, Detochkin, but your
relatives are plentiful,
but I only have very few
staff units... Yes, yes.
You  see, your trips are
interfering with our plans.
I'll make up for it!
Really? Please understand,
Detochkin,
I can't put personal considerations
above public ones, I have no choice.
- I... I'll make up for it!
- Well, go make it up...
- A policeman told me yesterady that
the appointment letter isn't valid. - Why?
- Because you'll need to notarize it.
- Alright.
- Your signature, please.
- Dima, sign it.
To be honest, I don't even know
why I get insurance for my possessions.
What about fires?
It would be a shame if such possessions
were to burn down with no compensation.
Maybe we should insure
our car too?
Did you buy a car?
As you wish. Insurance for
personal cars covers death,
accidents involving collision
or acts of God.
- What about theft?
- Well, not theft.
Mr. Ivanovich, I'm not
yet rich enough
to pay for acts of God...
- And where do you keep it?
- Come here!
Beige... not a garish color.
Don't you have a garage?
Not at the moment.
I keep trying,
but it's not at all easy.
The space is still only a promise,
so no garage yet.
But I already got a lock...
It's Japanese. No one can fool it.
Yes, no doubt it's hard...
Not even with a master key.
This calls for a blowtorch...
Cutting with those is such a hassle...
Please...
- So long.
- Goodbye.
Well done, dear...
- Want a ride?
- I'm going the other way.
Suite yourself!
Anyone who doesn't own a car
dreams of buying one.
And anyone with a car
wishes he could sell it,
and refrains from doing so only
because "then you won't have a car!".
Man, more so than any
other living creature,
loves creating unnecessary
difficulties for himself.
This is precisely the way to explain
the wish to have your own car.
The thought that 5,000 Rubals,
just thrown away on fancy wheels,
could poison any happy soul.
- Mom...
- You're here!
I still don't understand what sort of
business trips an insurance salesman has.
What are you waiting for?
Dinner's ready. Wash your hands.
What's making your briefcase so heavy?
Mom, it has all the stuff
I need for my work.
You're scary to look at,
you've become so thin...
These trips are suspicious... I wrote
the newspaper to say milk should be delivered...
Oh - Karchnoy won the chess tournament,
but I was rooting for Tal.
He lost by half a point...
Don't mock your mother!
- Welcome back!
- Thanks.
Eat, and don't slouch.
These trips look suspicious
to others besides me.
Who else?
Dumas' last book was a cookbook.
You're eating onion soup
by the great author Dumas-senior.
- It's good... - These trips look
suspicious to Luba. And she's right.
- She doesn't wish to marry a loser.
- Did she tell you that?
What is it with you?
No, not now. He's only just came back.
No, I think not.
That night, Maxim Podberozivokov
was moving in an unknown direction.
From across this big city,
in an even more unknown direction,
Yuri Detochkin was advancing.
They were walking towards fate.
They were growing closer.
Every investigator must have a hobby,
to which he devotes his free time,
left when he's not pursuing criminals.
For instance, Sherlock Holmes
played the violin,
For Maxim Podberozivokov,
it was amateur acting.
...the development of the popular art
of amateur acting is moving forward
with seven league steps. Finally,
new times are breathing down the neck
of the likes of us, the collectives of