Crime scene: Howald's case

Episode of the series Tatort
Original title	Howald's case
Country of production	Switzerland
original language	Swiss German
Production company	SF
length	95 minutes
classification	Episode 229 ( List )
First broadcast	April 16, 1990 on SF 1 , Das Erste , ORF 2
Rod
Director	Urs Egger
script	Johannes Bösiger Urs Egger
production	Martin Hennig Johannes Boesiger
music	Stephan Wittwer
camera	Lukas Strebel
cut	Evelyn Näf
occupation
Mathias Gnädinger : Detective Sergeant Walter Howald Andrea Zogg : Reto Carlucci Peter Arens : Heinz Rapold, head of the Bern criminal investigation department Marita Breuer : Rebecca Howald Nicolas Lansky : Philip Brächbühl Fritz Lichtenhahn : State Secretary René Wirz Hannelore Elsner : Eva Wirz Katharina Schütz : Eli Marti Ingold Wildenauer : Forensic specialist Stalder Eva Langraf : pharmacist Paul Born : examining magistrate Dieter Stoll : Detective Lauper Albert Freuler : Gusti Stettler Nadja Nock : Katrin Howald Daniele Legler : Garcin Jürgen Brügger : Federal Police Officer Ruedi Luc Yersin : Federal Police Officer Boursin Christophe Merian : Federal Police Officer Fischer Alice Bruengger : Mother Fischer Marlise Fischer : nurse

Howalds Fall is an episode of the television crime series Tatort from 1990. The film, produced by Swiss Television and directed by Urs Egger , is the first episode of Swiss television that had recently joined the Tatort series. It is crime scene episode 229, it was first broadcast on April 16, 1990.

Walter Howald ( Mathias Gnädinger ) and his assistant Reto Carlucci ( Andrea Zogg ) clarify the background to a dirty arms deal, the death of a Foreign Ministry official and finally the death of Howald's daughter.

action

Detective sergeant Walter Howald and his assistant Reto Carlucci were finishing a routine patrol when Carlucci noticed a flashlight in an industrial building. In front of the building, the officers find a delivery truck - fully loaded with war weapons. Two men come out of the building and open fire. Carlucci is able to shoot one of the two officers, the other flees and almost kills Howald on the run. The superior of the two officers, Heinz Rapold, reacts indignantly to Howald and Carlucci go it alone. The federal police should carry out the deal between the federal government and the Iranian government to release the hijacker Selim Arida and to deliver weapons. A liberation of the Iranian should be staged. Howald reports to his manager that he received an anonymous tip regarding the alleged exemption. The tip was with him as a discussed cassette in the mailbox. Rapold makes it clear to his officers that this is not their case, but because a colleague of theirs died during the arrest of Arida, they investigate the matter anyway and see the injured person in the hospital last night. Ruedi from the Federal Police, a former colleague of Howald's, is standing in front of the room and also tells the officers that they should stay out of the matter. In the evening, Carlucci learned that a high-ranking Swiss manager had been kidnapped by pro-Iranian militias in Beirut and that the government was trying to get his release.

Despite the information block, the officers learn that the injured man has now died and, by chance, that it was a police officer. Carlucci is shocked to have shot a colleague. Howald now really wants to know what's behind it. He and Carlucci find out that the dead colleague's name was Thomas Fischer and that he was with the federal police. During the night Howald's daughter Katrin disappears without a trace, the new friend of Howald's wife Rebecca, Philip Brächbühl, a high-ranking official in the Foreign Ministry, is the last to see Katrin. Brächbühl says that he drove to the city center with Katrin and dropped her there. Instead of going to a restaurant, he went to a sex cinema. Shortly afterwards, Carlucci finds out that said cinema is currently closed for renovation. He files a search warrant for Brächbühl's apartment, but does not get it. Howald is also not very enthusiastic about Carlucci's interest in Brächbühl. Carlucci drives to Brächbühl with several colleagues and pretends that his consent to a voluntary search of his apartment would improve his situation, Brächbühl agrees. Howald, who was added, finds nude photos of his daughter there and goes after Brächbühl, but Carlucci sends his boss away. Shortly afterwards, Katrin is found dead in a forest. She was poisoned with sleeping pills and was two months pregnant. Brächbühl presented Eva to his superior, State Secretary René Wirz's wife, as an alibi.

Rapold now has Carlucci shadow both Brächbühl and Eva Wirz, Brächbühl goes to Wirz that same evening and has a dispute with him. Carlucci later visits Eva Wirz. In the presence of her husband, she confirms her alibi for Brächbühl. Wirz claims to know about his wife's relationship. When Brächbühl does not appear in the office the next day, Howald and Carlucci look for him, they find him dead. He apparently shot himself. In the pathology, no traces of smoke are found on his hand. Nevertheless, the officers assume suicide. Howald secretly disappears a blood sample from Brächbühl. Rebecca Howald tells Carlucci that it would be all right with her husband if Brächbühl were suspected of being innocent. Shortly afterwards, the medical report shows that Katrin von Brächbühl was pregnant. Wirz explains to the surprised Carlucci that he and his wife Brächbühl would never have given an alibi, Carlucci must have misunderstood that. Although Howald regards the case as closed, Carlucci wants to obtain written confirmation from Eva Wirz that she is revoking her alibi. He goes to Eva, she says that her alibi was wrong. She and Brächbühl were just good friends from college. She dismisses a corresponding love letter from Brächbühl to Eva, which Carlucci found on the corpse, as harmless. Carlucci shadows the house and in the evening follows René Wirz to an apartment, where Wirz meets with the internationally sought-after French arms dealer Garcin. He accuses him of having killed Brächbühl, although he was only supposed to intimidate him. Garcin is supposed to fly from Geneva to Beirut the next day, Carlucci wants to intercept it at the airport, but is intercepted by the federal police right in front of the passport control, which ensures Garcin's departure.

Carlucci visits a pharmacist who has reported as a witness. Howald is a regular customer of her. Katrin had also bought the pregnancy test there. With her father's prescription, Katrin also got the sleeping pills from her that had been found to be the cause of death. Carlucci visits Howald and tells him about the arms deal with which the Swiss manager was ransomed. Carlucci also tells him that Brächbühl was killed by Garcin. Carlucci suspects that Brächbühl was Howald's anonymous whistleblower about the arms deal because he did not agree with it and thought Howald was an upright police officer. Carlucci pushes for another blood sample from Brächbühl to prove that this was not the father of Katrin's baby and that only a reason for suicide should be constructed. Howald is not thrilled. Since the cremation of Brächbühl is imminent, it is important to hurry, Carlucci drives back to town on his motorcycle. Howald follows him with his car and hits it. Carlucci hurries into town by taxi, but the cremation has already taken place. Carlucci has another blood sample taken from Brächbühl evaluated by the pathology department, which shows that Brächbühl is the father of Katrin's baby. Carlucci seeks Howald, who flees from his assistant, but can be caught by Carlucci. He admits to sexually abusing Katrin and being the baby's father. He had found Katrin dead in his bed at home. She had killed herself with his sleeping pills. He then made her body disappear. When Carlucci wants to drive with him to the station in Bern, Howald takes out his service gun and forces Carlucci to get out of the car, then Howald shoots himself.

background

For detective sergeant Walter Howald ( Mathias Gnädinger ), who is facing a failed family life, it was the only case, so that he has remained the only “one-day-old” among Swiss investigators.

reception

Audience ratings

The first broadcast of Howald's Fall on April 16, 1990 was seen by 11.53 million viewers in Germany and achieved a market share of 50.4% for Das Erste .

criticism

The critics of the TV magazine TV Spielfilm rate this crime scene only as mediocre.

Web links

• Crime scene: Howalds case in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Crime scene: Howald's case in the online film database
• Summary of the plot of Howald's case on the ARD website
• Howald's case in the crime scene fund
• Howald's case at Tatort-Fans.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Achim Neubauer: Walter Howald data on the investigator on tatort-fundus.de, accessed on January 10, 2016.
2. ^ " Howalds Fall " at tatort-fundus.de, accessed on January 10, 2016.
3. ↑ Tatort: Howalds Fall short review on tvspielfilm.de, accessed on January 10, 2016.

previous episode February 18, 1990: Death of a doctor

Crime scene follow

next episode May 13, 1990: Medicine Men