Tatort — Season 2005

The Stuttgart fire brigade has already had to fight two fires that were caused by arson in the last three months. A man dies in a third fire following the same pattern. This gets Bienzle on the scene, who immediately quarrels with the investigators of the arson. The dead man is a Romanian who has obviously acquired dubious merits as a former Securitate employee and most recently worked as a money collector for building contractors with the harshness usual for this job. Was a murder committed here and disguised as arson resulting in death? However, the series of arson attacks shows more and more that very special expertise was required.Is the arsonist one of the ranks of the fire brigade? Here, too, Bienzle stabs into a wasps' nest when he confronts the responsible fire-fighting manager with his suspicions. But Bienzle is not distracted by officials. While solving the case, he encounters a family drama.

The lawyer Louis Sobeke reports to Klara Blum in the murder commission: He accuses the manufacturer Weyrauch of having killed his wife because she wanted to end their relationship. Weyrauch denies everything. Then a dead body is found on the lake shore... 

An exercise that is common at the police academy in Hannoversch Münden: The students of P1, ambitious beginners, realistically present the pursuit of a kidnapper on their training ground. But at the end of the maneuver, the police student Gerd Lähner is dead. Shot with one of the FX practice weapons. The authorities quickly realize that an official investigation in this environment will cause a stir and will hardly lead to the goal. One speaks officially of a tragic accident.

Young Natalie, a French au pair visiting a Hamburg family, is murdered. She is found dead with more than 8,000 euros in her pockets – hanging from a subway bridge. Since the woman apparently had no social contacts in Hamburg, the search for a potential perpetrator is extremely difficult. Her German au pair parents are also soon eliminated as suspects. Then the suicide note from Bechter brings the first investigative approach: he mentions a beautiful girl named Natalie and describes her in such detail that Holicek and Casstorff agree: the beauty must have been Natalie. Questioning people in Bechter 's environment lead the inspectors to Hamburg's gambling milieu.But it soon becomes clear that the murder has nothing to do with the conventional legal and illegal gamblers and their establishments. Again, the commissioners seem to be stuck in a dead end. New evidence suggests that a completely different dimension of illegal gambling is captivating people in Hamburg. A so-called "cube room" is the constantly changing place where decisions are made not only about money, but also about fate and even life and death. In order to find the solution to the Natalie case, Casstorff has to play a dangerous game himself. 

A murdered woman is found on a disused industrial site. There is no evidence of their identity, the only trace is a pin with the initials LIC. The chief inspectors Ehrlicher and Kain determine that they stand for the company Leipziger Immobilien Consulting. The successful head of this company, Martin Forssell, increases the performance of his exclusively female employees with suggestive motivational courses. Anyone can become rich with his help. Murder victim Ricarda Nowak was on this path to the top after literally walking through fire for Forssell. The up-and-coming talent was popular, talented and committed, says suave young realtor Sabine Gerber, who mentored Ricarda.Sabine Gerber and managing director Carolin Beck, on the other hand, are not so friendly with each other. Ehrlicher overhears one of their arguments in the office. An open fight begins, which – instigated by Forssell – aims to oust the incumbent manager and to replace her with the younger career woman. When the dead man's car, cell phone and suitcase are found, it is clear that the dead woman had planned a romantic trip. Who would have been the lucky one to enjoy the seductive underwear? Ricarda's last phone call was to Forssell's cell phone number. He is a stray, remarks Carolin Beck disparagingly and visibly frustrated. The commissioners then confront the company boss. He doesn't want to know Ricarda at first.Then he describes the relationship to her as purely sexual. He also ended the relationship ten days ago. However, a joint hotel stay in Dresden was booked for the day after Ricarda's violent death. And Forssell has no alibi for the time of the crime. There are other conspicuous connections and destinies within the real estate company that Ehrlicher and Kain have to investigate. The inspectors find themselves in a swamp of lies, fraud, blackmail and exploitation, into which even Ehrlicher's girlfriend Frederike is drawn.

In a robbery on a money transporter, the driver is shot dead. The perpetrator can escape with the loot, but his presumed accomplice has to be released due to a lack of evidence. Shortly thereafter, Ballauf and Schenk receive a mysterious mail. The inspectors make their way to Neu-Schaffrath, a village that had been resettled because of the open-cast lignite mining, where the letter had been posted. In this area there are only a few residents who defiantly oppose the resettlement. When a young man from the village, fleeing from the two inspectors, falls into the lignite mine and dies in an accident, it is obvious that some in this neighborhood know more than they want to admit.

During an orchid competition on the island of Mainau, the most precious plant disappears - but a dead person is found in the greenhouse. Klara Blum enters the wondrous world of orchid breeders and researchers to solve the murder and realizes that she is dealing with a special species of human beings.

A car races down the freeway – a young man at the wheel. It becomes a drive to your death: a stranger throws a thick cobblestone off the bridge and hits the car dead on; the driver loses control and crashes into a concrete pillar. A randomly chosen victim? The Berlin "Tatort" commissioners Till Ritter (Dominic Raacke) and Felix Stark (Boris Aljinovic) initially suspect a deadly child's game behind it, but then the case becomes more and more tricky...

On the day that Ulrich Wahl is called at home by his young lover Teresa, contrary to all agreements, he suspects evil. And all too quickly his fears are confirmed. Covered in blood and completely distraught, the young Cuban begs him for help. There is a dead person in her apartment, her secret love nest, he has to go. Wahl feels compelled to act, because what else should happen? The fragile construction of his double life would shatter into pieces with consequences that he does not want to bear. The corpse that Chief Inspector Klaus Borowski brings to Ulrich Wahl is not the dead man from his lover's apartment. It is about a security guard who was found run over on a construction site by the entrepreneur Wahl. Wahl's dismay is limited, and Borowski registers that.The security guard Bernd Ruda was run over with the car of Thorsten Brück, Teresa's husband. Brück was also an employee in von Wahl's company, but he has now disappeared. Borowski suspects somethingof the context and sticks to Ulrich Wahl, who is noticeably getting on his nerves at the toughness of Borowski's questioning. However, when Wahl is then blackmailed, he confides in the inspector: someone blames him for the death of the security guard and is blackmailing him with it. But why is Wahl telling the commissioner about it? Because he knows the blackmailer! His wife Ingrid Wahl has apparently accepted for a long time that she has lost her husband. But what was she supposed to achieve with this blackmail? When Brück is found stabbed, the investigators no longer believe he was the perpetrator.Who believes in such a coincidence: First Brück kills, then he is killed?! The trail leads to an apartment where Teresa is said to have lived. But didn't she live with her husband Brück? And who was the elderly gentleman who regularly visited the Cuban? The noose is tightening, because the commissioners have known something for a long time that is throwing Wahl off track. Wahl cannot be the culprit, and so he feels compelled to act one last time.

A young woman is found dead in the Rheinauen. Karina Cervinski was neither raped nor robbed and is believed to have known her killer. Lena Odenthal and Mario Kopper begin to investigate Karina's environment. Her husband Horst, owner of a small metal foundry in a Ludwigshafen suburb, is deeply saddened when he receives the news of his death. But within a very short time, Lena and Kopper find out more about Karina than her husband seems to have ever known. A therapist, a lover, even a pregnancy – everything is said to be completely new to Cervinski. Karina's esoteric friend Claudia Schmitter can tell you more. She not only refers to Karina's disastrous horoscope, she also knows her psychotherapist.But even Claudia doesn't know whowas the unknown lover who soon becomes the key figure in the investigation. Therapist Richard Gelpke could be of help in analyzing Karina's mental secrets. But between him and Lena there is a spontaneous rejection, so that Gelpke refuses to reveal more than the most necessary information about his client's anxiety neurosis. Horst Cervinski can no longer control himself in his sadness and jealousy and attacks anyone he mistakenly thinks is his wife's lover. But Cervinski has an alibi for the time of the crime, he can't be the murderer of his wife. Stuck in a dead end, Lena reluctantly takes on the provocative Richard Gelpke again for clues about the personality of the lover and alleged murderer.

Was it actually suicide? Doris Röttger is convinced that riding instructor Markus Hoffschulte has her husband on his conscience. In fact, when he was questioned by Inspector Frank Thiel, the heartthrob Hoffschulte did not deny having had a heated argument with the restaurant owner Röttger shortly before his death. Apparently it was about money. In fact, the riding instructor probably confronted the husband of his former lover on this occasion with truths that he should not have known... Forensic pathologist Prof. Karl-Friedrich Boerne is dealing with completely different problems. His almost 18-year-old niece Betty dances on his nose. Accordingly, he is pleasantly surprised when she accepts a holiday job at Hoffschulte's and his wife Miriam's well-respected equestrian center.Among other things, she is to take care of the valuable black breeding horse Rasputin. But Rasputin of all people is kidnapped shortly afterwards. When he reappears, he is no longer good as a stallion - he has been castrated - and Hoffschulte is financially ruined. But apart from Betty, nobody really seems to feel sorry for the riding instructor. On the contrary: wherever Boerne and Thiel ask around, they encounter glee. Apparently, Doris Röttger is not the only one who still has an open account with the heartbreaker. A threatening letter on the stable door says it all: "That was just the beginning. You are a dead man." A little later there is an explosion at the riding stables. 

The investigation into the murder of an insurance salesman leads Singer and Dellwo to the trail of a gigantic insurance fraud. The injured are young, single cancer patients, none of whom have much longer to live. It quickly becomes clear that two of those who were cheated, Tom and Roman, committed the murder. They are on a quest to find Max Gravert, who they believe is the prime culprit of this scam, and they have nothing to lose. At the press conference of a self-help group that makes the scandal public and wants to demand justice in a legal way, Dellwo meets Julia, who is also seriously ill with cancer. She is friends with Tom and Roman, but still denies having any contact with them.With a mixture of pity and fascination, Dellwo feels attracted to her, gets caught up in an amour fou and makes mistakes. Meanwhile, Charlotte Sänger is also looking for Max Gravert. A race against time begins. Meanwhile, Tom and Roman leave a bloody trail on their vendetta..

Charming young Ben finds it easy to win over women, especially older ones. As a lover of wealthy women, he persuades them to do shady stock deals and then makes off with the stolen money. His unsuspecting girlfriend Vera, a saleswoman in a jewelry store, gives him information about wealthy single customers. When the energetic Elisabeth Hagen found out about him, Ben grabbed it spontaneously. He drowns his victim in the bathtub and dumps the body in the harbor. But thereshe quickly reappears. While Lena Odenthal and Mario Kopper clarify the victim's identity and find clues to a mysterious lover in his spotless life, Ben lets himself be pampered by his second iron in the fire, the generous Rosemarie Baal.But then Vera starts asking questions, a car dealer becomes suspicious. Ben makes plans to escape. When Lena gets closer and closer to him in her investigations, Ben's situation comes to a head and he resorts to desperate means.

While jogging, entrepreneur Lars Fresinger stepped on a mine in the Cologne city forest and bled to death. Max Ballauf and Freddy Schenk suspect a terrorist background. That is why the LKA and the state security service, led by Eva Bertsch, also get involved in the investigation. The first indications of the crime are quickly found. Fresinger was a board member of the "Land instead of mines" foundation, and he maintained close business relationships with his machine company in Africa. It was here that he met his wife. Fátima Fresinger comes from Angola, a country riddled with mines after many years of civil war . She is rather closed to the commissioners. Her friend, the nurse Hannah Siems, who worked in Angola for a long time, seems to know more than she is letting on.Another trail leads Ballauf and Schenk to the "Wieland Schauff Society for Ordnance Disposal" and the obscure explosives expert Lothar Raschke. The mine that killed Fresinger was an old model that has been out of production for a long time. Then a call from Fátima Fresinger startles the inspectors. A package was delivered to her house – without a sender.

For a long time now, advertising boss Rolf Mading has been receiving ingenious text ideas and suggestions for his political and business campaigns from a mysterious stranger named Tozcec (pronounced: Totschek). But the e-mail invitation leads to Mading's death. Horrified, Mading's daughter Ellen and son-in-law Michael cut short their Mallorca vacation to attend her father's funeral and settle the inheritance. The power-obsessed boss was by no means popular in the agency. Only Gunda Laux, Mading's assistant and lover, seems visibly touched by his death. The Munich chief inspectors Ivo Batic and Franz Leitmayr search for the unknown perpetrator with the active help of chief inspector Carlo Menzinger.

After the party for the winner of a violin competition, music professor Karin Landauer embarks on an erotic adventure with his brother. When she returns from the bathroom to the bedroom, she finds the young man murdered. Now the infidelity cannot be kept secret from her husband, an internationally renowned violin virtuoso. But the fact that the 300- year-old Stradivarius, "The Sleeping Beauty", which belongs to his wife, has disappeared from the apartment hits him far harder than the adultery. Inspector Moritz Eisner does not really believe in robbery and murder and begins to examine the private and professional situation of the artist couple. He soon finds out that their marriage hasn't been as happy as it seems on the outside for a long time.

Completely frightened, a young woman shows up at Inga Lürsen's (Sabine Postel) and Stedefreund's (Oliver Mommsen) police station. After a long night, shortly before a perpetrator (Bernd Tauber) finally wants to confess, she bursts into the middle of the interrogation. The perpetrator is silent again. Chief Inspector Inga Lürsen is annoyed and tired. Manu tells of a brutal murder of her boyfriend, but Inga Lürsen doesn't believe her. For them, Manu (Ester Zimmering) is a storyteller like Scheherazade. Years ago she convicted Manu with a confession for manslaughter in a drug environment, and even then Manu often told stories and only rarely the truth. But Manu does not give up, she insists that her boyfriend was involved in the 9/11 terror.Only Stedefreund - fascinated by this woman - is willing to accept her claims. He persuades Inga Lürsen to drive with Manu to the apartment where the body is supposed to be; but the detectives find nothing - no body, no traces, no clues to Manu's story. But Stedefreund wants to believe the storyteller. Only for Inga does the case seem very clear, until her old love suddenly shows up, and then she too has to decide on the truth.

Eight-year-old Tommy Beck is found dead in a wooded area. The tragic news of his son's death reached explosives expert Holger Beck at the credit bank. He and his colleagues mortgage their own homes to save their jobs. Your boss Günter Siebert, the owner of the quarry, does not have the funds for an urgently needed investment. This is the only way he can apply for a contract for the large-scale construction site of the Leipzig City Tunnel. The chief inspectors Ehrlicher and Kain initially think of a sexual offence. But then it turns out that the scene of the crime and the place where it was found are not identical. Tommy choked on construction debris produced in Siebert's quarry. However, the marks of the quarry on Tommy's clothes have been removed. And Tommy's satchel is gone too.

A sniper shooting at pedestrians and motorists from an ambush keeps Bremen in suspense. The inspectors Inga Lürsen (Sabine Postel) and her partner Stedefreund (Oliver Mommsen) try under high pressure to track down the perpetrator. Inga Lürsen knows that he can go on killing undetected for a long time if something doesn't happen soon. So she uses the media to deliberately provoke him. But that literally gets her in his crosshairs and she suddenly has to fight for her life. When the inspector and her colleague finally understand who the perpetrator is and what drives him, it's almost too late... 

A murder at Stuttgart Airport leads Bienzle to the Allgäu this time. The murder victim, the young Sicilian Luigi Ricci, spent some time there with his brother Giovanni, who runs a thriving pizzeria in Wagenbrunn. What Luigi wanted in Wagenbrunn initially remained hidden from Bienzle. However, certain circumstantial evidence indicates that he was involved with the Mafia. However, Bienzle is also interested in Marlene Mergenthaler. It can be proven that Luigi's girlfriend in Wagenbrunn was at the scene of the crime, left him in a hurry immediately after the murder and shortly afterwards caused a serious car accident. When Bienzle learns that the Italian wanted to leave her, he becomes increasingly suspicious of the girl's behavior. Marlene's jealous ex-boyfriend Simon knew nothing about the upcoming separation.Did he shoot his rival? But as it turns out, Marlene's father was not at all on the side of Luigi either. Bienzle soon comes to the conclusion that the Mergenthaler family clan has at least as mafia-like structures as the Ricci family. However, their involvement with the mafia can no longer be denied. Just now, when Bienzle is investigating in the Allgäu, Hannelore is doing a wellness cure nearby. Now Bienzle is faced with the question of whether he should visit her there or not. Does she possibly want to be left alone or will she end up angry if he doesn't show up to her? This question is at least as difficult to solve for Bienzle as the murder case.

An unsolved murder case in the Tyrolean mountains keeps Chief Inspector Moritz Eisner (Harald Krassnitzer) busy. A year ago, a pregnant woman was strangled here. The husband of the murdered woman is now threatening to close his glass factory if the death is not cleared up by the anniversary. A large part of the population would lose their jobs as a result. The suspect is the "devil from the mountain", the eccentric painter and womanizer Georg Hochreiter.

Figure skating was his life, he died in the ice rink. Stefan Müller froze to death after being knocked down on the ice by a stranger. A case for the Cologne murder commission. Inspectors Max Ballauf and Freddy Schenk quickly realize that the former competitive athlete, trainer and judge didn't just have friends. The rumor mill is bubbling: there is talk of partisan judges' decisions. There are doping allegations and Müller is even accused of sexual abuse of minors. Above all, the ambitious mother of the ice skating student Jeanette doesn't mince her words. Ilona Hinze always felt disadvantaged by Müller and her daughter. On the other hand, he was completely fixated on his young model student Lily Wandhoven.In fact, Müller not only supported the girl professionally, but also financially together with his brother Martin Müller. Müller's wife Sonja and his son Peter confirm: After the death of his daughter in a traffic accident, Lily was his one and only for Stefan Müller. What's with the dirty rumours?

A few years ago Luis Münchau was a successful police officer at the LKA Rheinland-Pfalz, but then he was dismissed for violence against the accused and witnesses. Now working as a private investigator, he is arrested in a shootout. But he manages to escape. Ironically, Lena Odenthal crosses his path at the wrong moment. Münchau takes her hostage at gunpoint. A dramatic escape through nocturnal Ludwigshafen begins. Lena Odenthal tries by all means to trick Luis Münchau. She manages to throw away his fake papers and keep Kopper and the LKA colleagues on her trail. Meanwhile, they carefully set up a trap. While her colleagues lie in wait in the morning, Lena tries to negotiate with Luis Münchau...

It starts like a normal criminal case. A businessman's body is found. His brother and partner is a suspect and is clearly identified as the perpetrator by the traces. Only Inga Lürsen does not believe in his guilt. She keeps digging, putting not only herself but also those around her in mortal danger. Suddenly she has to fight for the life of her daughter Helen. Both are kidnapped and it doesn't look like they stand a chance of escaping the trap they've fallen into alive. Her colleague Stedefreund is ignored when he wants to help her and is suspended from work. Inga Lürsen realizes far too late that she has become part of a devilish game from which she can only free herself if she behaves differently than is expected of her.

A new case confronts Commissioner Borowski with grisly finds. Remains of human bodies appear in the sewers in Kiel – teeth, hair, hip joints. They come from several bodies, and show clear traces of acid. Inspector Borowski and his colleagues are puzzled: where did the remains come from, how did they end up in the sewers and how many people did they belong to? Investigations begin with the unsolved cases. Some cases from years ago. But the 19-year-old student Doreen Winter has only been missing for two days. The commissioners are alarmed. In the middle of the difficult investigation, the perpetrator turns himself in: Father Albert Benz, who heads a small Catholic community in Kiel. Who preaches, accompanies the dying and hears the confession.A pastor as one wishes for him. But Benz insists that he is the culprit. A confession, not a confession. Because Benz takes the blame on himself, but then nothing more can be gotten out of him. Borowski doesn't believe a word of Albert Benz. He's looking for a motive. Not for a motive, but for Benz's motive to lie. Absurdly, Borowski spends his time trying to prove that a confessor is not the perpetrator. The priest and the policeman, two in search of meaning. When Borowski has conjured up the decisive rapprochement between him and Benz, the priest himself becomes a victim. The desperate father of the missing Doreen shoots at Benz and seriously injures him. 

The inspectors Fritz Dellwo and Charlotte Sänger are called to their old presidium. The body of a young woman is said to have been found in the empty building. But the two colleagues who reported the body found cannot be found at the alleged crime scene. Dellwo and Sänger set out to search the old headquarters, but no trace of the woman's corpse can be found either. Instead, they are confronted with the situation that the two police officers have been taken hostage. The kidnapper's demand is conveyed to them by an accomplice: Charlotte Sänger is to bring Alexander Kern into the deserted headquarters. Kern - convicted of kidnapping in a circumstantial trial only - was recently released from prison for his retrial.When Singer refuses to lure Kern to the police station, they learn that Kern's lawyer is also in the kidnapper's power. Dellwo and singers realize that they are in an almost hopeless situation. Whatever you decide, it's wrong - every cop's nightmare...

The night before his marriage to Sandra Mangold (Nele Mueller-Stöfen), the head of department at the Berlin pharmaceutical company NOVOFACT, Prof. Eugen Jähnicke (Walter Kreye), head of the institute for animal experiments, VIVITEST, is found murdered. The cause of death is a mystery, but one thing is clear: his death was "arranged". The dead professor lies on the dissection table in his institute's animal pathology department like one of his test animals: his stretched-out body is full of cannulas, probes, hoses and electrodes. The commissioners Till Ritter (Dominic Raacke) and Felix Stark (Boris Aljinovic) suspect that the perpetrator wanted to set an example and is to be found in the circles of animal experimentation opponents.Even Jähnicke's own stepdaughter Caro (Karoline Teska) is suspected, especially since the radical animal rights activist had just had a physical argument with him. And then there is Ingo Kaiser (Axel Neumann), who loudly suspected the professor of stealing his beloved cat Manou for animal experiments. But there is also a lot to research in the private life of the professor, because the good-looking widower tended to have affairs. His last lover was his colleague, the head of the animal testing series, Dr. Claudia Knobba (Sheri Hagen), before deciding to marry the attractive Sandra Mangold - for Dr. Knobba a bitter disappointment.Was it maybe a murder out of jealousy? But Sandra is also suspicious: Ritter catches her in Jähnicke's sealed office while she is in the process of deleting computer files. And the professor himself destroyed documents in the shredder shortly before his death. What story were the research institute and the pharmaceutical company involved in? Did Prof. Jähnicke have to die because of this? And what role does Volker Bensch (Volker Bruch), who works in the institute as a laboratory animal keeper and apparently also has good contacts with animal rights activists, actually play? While Ritter and Stark are feverishly investigating, the situation in the Jähnicke house escalates.Caro and the longtime housekeeper Margarete Baier (Jenny Gröllmann), who raised her almost like a mother, leave the villa after an argument – her relationship with Sandra was never the best anyway. They even suspect each other of having something to do with the professor's death. But then Ritter and Stark discover a hot lead - and they owe it not least to the two lovebirds, also known as the "lovebirds", who the professor kept in his office.

Charlotte Lindholm and her boyfriend Tobias Endres are making plans for the future: they have been a couple for over a year, love is great and they finally want to move in together. The only problem: Charlotte hasn't yet dared to let her roommate Martin Felser know about her plans. Then Charlotte Lindholm is entrusted with a new case: Herwig Gruber, the managing director of the food company "Corte Germany", died in a car accident. The State Criminal Police Office assumes an attack because Gruber was involved in a spectacular food scandal some time ago. "Corte Germany", the German branch of an American multinational, had put a new spaghetti sauce on the market that was contaminated with pesticides at great advertising expense.Although Gruber was acquitted of all allegations in a trial, he was the guilty party for the victims' families. Charlotte's investigations lead to Lothar Pickert, whose daughter ate the contaminated sauce and has been severely disabled ever since. Pickert had already threatened Gruber several times. When Chief Inspector Lindholm contacts the respected law firm "Fisher & Bell", which represented the interests of "Corte Germany" and defended Gruber in the process, the case takes on a new dimension for her. To her surprise, she finds out that her boyfriend Tobias had worked as a lawyer in the law firm. Why didn't he tell her about it? Did Tobias have anything to do with the "Corte Germany" case? Shortly thereafter there is another murder victim: Liane Wagner.The young woman was a secretary in the law firm some time ago and had a hot love affair with Tobias Endres at the time. Tobias behaves increasingly suspiciously in Charlotte's eyes. In the course of their investigations, the evidence that Tobias Endres has something to do with the scandal and the murder of Liane grows. Can Charlotte still trust the man she loves?

On a hot summer's day in Leipzig, a boy is found dead in an outdoor pool. It quickly turns out that Leo, who had Down syndrome, was drowned. Despite the hustle and bustle, the chief inspectors Ehrlicher and Kain cannot find any eyewitnesses to the murder. The lifeguard was also not at the pool at the time. When Leo's mother shows up, the inspectors learn that Leo was to testify as the main witness in a trial against 17-year-old Ralf Salchow. For the candidate city councilor Bettina Stein, who is pushing for a quick clarification for tactical reasons, the case seems obvious. Ehrlicher and Kain, however, do not believe in the obvious motive. Leo's sister Alexandra was also in the outdoor pool and should betake care of her diabetic brother.However, she had retired behind the dressing rooms with her new boyfriend Mike, she claims. Mike belongs to Ralf Salchow's clique. They go to school together, where Leo's father Martin Stein works as a teacher and where he is bullied by the youngsters. Because of this, he tries everything to prevent his daughter's relationship with Mike. Election posters show the Steins as a happy family. But dark secrets seem to be hiding beneath the surface – motives for murder? Ehrlicher and Kain do not like this question at all. However, in this subtle case, they must follow up on every tip and suspicion, even if it is directed against the victim's family.

On the waltz, work follows you: Journeyman craftsman Mario Leitgeb leaves his home village of Wurmannsreuth with an axe, square and latt hammer. Gerry Neuner, an older journeyman, accompanies Mario on his first journey. They find work on a construction site in Munich. The young woodpecker Mario seems to have a score to settle with the ill-reputed Munich building contractor Pirner. There is no other way to explain his holding on to the lousy job and the mysterious postcard home. In Vadder Kolo Koydl's inn on Lake Starnberg, Mario is looking forward to his hike. For the initiation, Mario's secret childhood love, the traveling companion Franzi Brandl, also arrives from the meeting shaft. Both come from the same place. It used to be that there were no women. But times have changed.Journeyman craftsmen have to "tip" for three years and a day, i.e. be on the move, and are only allowed to stay a few weeks in each place. But when they meet, Franzi only has eyes for Gerry, much to Mario's disappointment. Shortly thereafter, Mario is murdered. His body is found below the Großhesseloher Bridge. The Munich commissioners are faced with the task of looking for a murderer in the area of the traditional craft shafts, among men who speak a foreign language and feel obliged to honor venerable, secret rites. And it gets even worse during the investigation: Franzi seems to be under an old curse. Leitmayr has to mingle with the journeymen without being recognized. 

Vera Schneider, nationally known foundation chairwoman, formerly celebrated pianist, is honored for her commitment to the rehabilitation of young prisoners. A few hours later, the charity lady is dead - fell from the balcony. A robbery and murder, as evidenced by the traces left by a burglar in Schneider's apartment. Inspector Max Palu, colleague Stefan Deininger and the tried and tested part-time employee in the secretariat, Ms. Braun, are dealing with five suspects: Heinz Schneider, the industrialist, head of Schneider machine tools, who coldly wants to dump his wife because she is redesigning him gets in the way of his private life. Martin, the prodigal son who suddenly reappeared years later. Marion, the adoptive daughter who was severely traumatized after a car accident.Eva-Maria Klein, Vera Schneider's office manager in the foundation, which leaves its mark in many suspicious places. And the only slightly resocialized petty crook Moshi, a protégé of Vera Schneider and childhood friend of Martin. Max Palu is under pressure because his new chief of police, Klausmann, is pushing for a quick solution. Above all, however, he wants Heinz Schneider, on whose investments 1,000 jobs depend, to be undamaged. However, this is becoming increasingly difficult as someone who knows more than the investigators feeds the media with details. Max Palu is also in a private crisis and is on the verge of separating from his partner Margit. Confronted with a disintegrating family in the Schneider murder case, he realizes how torn his own family ties are.He has to make a decision, professionally and privately, in his last case as a "crime scene" commissioner in Saarbrücken. 

Münster is in the middle of an election campaign when a murder occurs. But the dead man on the ground is not who one might think he is. Not far from a demonstration against the far-right mayoral candidate Frieder Lott (Alexander Held), his double was stabbed from behind. The cabaret artist Joachim Montell was known throughout the city as "The true Lott" – and in fact he looked confusingly like Lott. Was the assassination attempt aimed at him or the populists who were acclaimed and attacked for his pithy sayings? Inspector Frank Thiel is investigating in all directions. He follows Lott's heels and questions Montell's partner, the chanson singer Tom Linden (Tim Fischer).To his great regret, forensic pathologist Karl-Friedrich Boerne cannot intervene directly in the investigative work: he has to defend himself against the accusation that he caused a car accident while under the influence of herbal schnapps. But what are cell phones for? Boerne's calls follow Thiel at every turn. The inspector is also distracted. Larissa, a student from Kiev, gives him completely different ideas...

Bernd Eckermann, head of HR at a well-known security company, is found shot dead in the underground car park where he works. Internal company investigations point the way to Volker Kubitzki, a bodyguard who was recently dismissed by Eckermann without notice. However, he has an alibi. Casstorff also investigates the victim's family and finds that his relationship with his wife and son was strained. But then the ballistics experts found another hot lead: the murder weapon belongs to Martin Schröder, an ex-soldier. However, he explains that the gun was stolen when his car was broken into a year ago. Shortly thereafter, the psychologist Reinhardt Mackenrodt was shot. And this according to the same model as the head of HR Eckermann.Ballistics confirms both men were shot with the same gun. The investigators are feverishly looking for a connection between the murder victims. Casstorff finds out that both Eckermann, then still a major, and Mackenrodt, in his capacity as a military psychologist, were jointly involved in a foreign mission in Kosovo. Mackenrodt treated the soldiers traumatized by the war. They come across an unstable ex-soldier who Mackenrodt has rejected as a patient. When Casstorff puts pressure on him, he runs amok. But in this case, too, the devil is in the detail - a detail that the investigators initially did not attach any importance to. Once again the trail leads to Martin Schröder...

Winter in Munich. The official weather records speak of one of the coldest days in the Bavarian capital in living memory. After a snowstorm, a forester finds the very young Stefanie Thaller on the edge of an industrial park in the north of Munich: half naked and explored. Rarely have detective inspectors Franz Leitmayr and Ivo Batic faced a murder case with such poor information, and the murdered woman's father, Ludwig Thaller, a street vendor, is breathing down the investigators' necks. The focus of the surveys is on the one handunconventional disco operator Kris Stanislas, and on the other hand two bold but successful young men: Oliver Hufland and Jasper Bruckner. They made their fortunes in the New Economy boom and have been caught in the crossfire of envious prosecutors.But they didn't know the dead woman. In addition to the nerve-wracking research for Batic and Leitmayr, Chief Inspector Carlo Menzinger is plagued by another case: Sophie Berger and Max Kanther from the supervisory complaints accuse Menzinger of having treated the punk Pinky too harshly during the interrogation.

A Cranach is stolen from the Konstanz Art Museum. The restorer who worked on the painting lies dead next to the empty frame. Stabbed right in the heart with a targeted scalpel blow. "Criminology can be that simple," says Kai Perlmann, the assistant to Chief Inspector Klara Blum. Because he saw the suspected killer run away. The man is well known in the art museum. It is Jan Reuter, who has been the assistant to museum director Doris Koch for six months. Apparently he hid his second sight well from everyone. While Klara Blum and her team are looking for Reuter, they succeedSuspects to hide with an unknown. Jan gains Birgit Winkler's trust and she helps him escape from the police. Birgit believes his protestation that she stole the painting but did not kill for it.She falls in love with him. Without suspicion. When Klara finds out that the museum director Koch paid the restorer hush money, she develops a completely different suspicion: something is wrong with the stolen masterpiece. And suddenly there is not just one, but several suspects. Criminology is rarely that simple...