with all their clothes covered in cement, and are forced to run in their underwear to the local town posing as a track team. Moreover, a local petty crook named Vasiliy Alibabayevich Alibaba (Radner Muratov) escapes along with them, and they have to let him tag along out of fear of being uncovered. At the local town, Troshkin and the gang stay at a hotel, where, after a botched game of chess, Crosseyes and Sad Sack get into a fight. Troshkin comes in time, breaks them apart and orders the gang to stop causing misdemeanor and using criminal slang and nicknames, so they would at least look and act like ordinary people and stay safe. Then Troshkin gets a hauling job at a local kindergarten to earn some money for new clothes and for a hotel stay, but tries to make it look for his accomplices like they're performing a robbery, so they won't suspect him. Alibabayevich feels remorse after the job and wishes to surrender to the police, but is afraid to do it so they won't give him a severe punishment for what he has committed up until now. After meeting with the police once again, Troshkin gets some money and new clothes, and also asks the police to free his gang from prison sentence for being helpful. Arriving in Moscow, the gang settles in an old house, prepared for demolition. While Troshkin, Crosseyes and Sad Sack travel around Moscow to find any clues, Vasiliy Alibabaevich keeps their home. Later, Sad Sack steals Troshkin's money, which forces him to take some more from his own apartment, again making it look like a robbery to his accomplices. Then Alibabayevich accidentally sets fire to the gang's house, after which Troshkin, having arranged with Professor Maltsev, moves with the gang to Maltsev's country house. Professor's daughter, Lyudmila, comes to visit them, thinking they're archeologists, after Maltsev himself told her so. Gradually, Troshkin outlines the circle of communication of the real Docent. One of the former accomplices declares to him that he has quit the life of crime, and throws Troshkin down the staircase. Another accomplice, Prokhorov the checkroom attendant, arranges a meeting at the square near the Bolshoi Theater. Prokhorov sends his accomplice Mityai to Troshkin, whom he does not recognize. Mityai becomes convinced that the man is not the real Docent, and Prokhorov decides not to go to the meeting.