From our childhood years we know the names of the famous detectives and characters of criminal mysteries - Sherlock Holmes, Nat Pinkerton, Hercule Poirot, inspector Maigret. We, however, are completely oblivious to the names of the Russian detectives. Meanwhile Russia had always had remarkable attorneys and detectives with high moral and professional values. Ivan Putilin occupies a very special place among those Russian detectives. He was a living legend in the second half of the XIX century, protecting people and catching the criminals.