Crime scene: messenger of death

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Episode of the series Tatort
Original title Messenger of death
Country of production Germany
original language German
Production
company		 MR
length 87 minutes
classification Episode 395 ( List )
First broadcast August 30, 1998 on Das Erste
Rod
Director Sylvia Hoffman
script Hans Kelch
music Jo Loew
Ralf Zang
camera Jürgen Herrmann
cut Beate Gottschall
occupation

Messenger of Death is a television film from the crime series Tatort which was produced by Hessischer Rundfunk (HR) under the direction of Sylvia Hoffman and broadcast for the first time on August 30, 1998 in the program Das Erste . It is the 395th crime scene episode and the twentieth case of the Frankfurt chief detective Edgar Brinkmann . The Berlin radio and television presenter Juliane Bartel had a guest appearance in the film; she died on April 3, 1998, before it was first broadcast.

action

The Blankenberg couple are in a crisis. Silvia Blankenberg had hired a private detective and has recently known that her husband is cheating on her with a younger woman. After a dispute between the two at a motorway service station, Silvia Blankenberg disappears. She embarks on an adventure with Gerd Baltruschat, a young stage actor whom she has just met in the rest stop. Her husband assumes that she "ran away" out of disappointment. Nevertheless, he turns to Inspector Brinkmann, whom he knows personally, and wants to report his wife as missing. This sends him to the missing persons office.

The next day Horst Blankenberg received a call from Gerd Baltruschat. With a disguised voice and a foreign accent, he demands two million DM if Blankenberg wants his wife back. He also threatens to go public with details of his financial actions if he does not pay the money or if he calls in the police. Blankenberg is ordered to a motorway service station by phone. While he is supposed to be receiving new instructions there and moving away from his car, when he comes back he notices that the bag with the money has disappeared from the back seat of the car. Shortly afterwards, shots are fired and Blankenburg sinks dead to the ground.

Inspector Brinkmann and his assistant Wegener are called to the crime scene. You are the first to ask Blankenberg's secretary Renate Knof about possible backgrounds to the crime. This claims to have dreamed of Blankenberg's murder with two shots. From her, Brinkmann also receives information about the young friend of the murdered Senta Sando, who works as an artist and makes sculptures. This Brinkmann is looking for questions about the relationship between the Blankenburgs. To him it seems conceivable that the jealous wife had her husband out of the way. Senta Sando says that she recently noticed a small black car that had been parked outside Blankenberg's house.

Silvia Blankenberg can now be freed from the basement of an abandoned house relatively unharmed. She gives Brinkmann details of her alleged kidnapping. However, he notices that she has no physical signs of kidnapping or bondage. When the inspector informs her of her husband's death, she is shocked. She drives to Baltruschat to confront him. Both accuse each other of murder.

Brinkmann had Silvia Blankenberg observed and came across frequent meetings with Baltruschat. This eludes unpleasant surveys and travels abroad. The police are meanwhile confronted with a new murder. The private detective Walter Bodner was found shot dead in a Frankfurt parking lot. When Brinkmann and his assistant Wegener looked around Bodner's apartment, they came across a photo of a newspaper clipping that Wegener had already found in Blankenberg's safe. It is about the suicide of a married couple Donas. Brinkmann immediately noticed the connection to the name Sando, which Blankenberg's friend chose as her stage name. He tells her to the head that she shot Blankenberg because he drove her parents to suicide by giving false financial advice. In addition, she probably also killed the detective after he found out about her. Then she threatens Brinkmann with a gun. She tries to escape with a car and is followed by Wegener. When she arrives at the bridge where her parents were killed, she drives at high speed and deliberately against the pillar.

After Silvia Blankenberg discovers that Baltruschat has run away with the extorted money, she wants to report him to Brinkmann as a murderer, but Brinkmann arrests her because he had been behind the faked kidnapping for a long time. He assures her that Baltruschat will also be arrested as soon as he is back in Germany.

reception

Audience ratings

The first broadcast of Todesbote on August 30, 1998 achieved a market share of 28.09 percent for Das Erste and was seen by 9.08 million viewers in Germany.

Reviews

The TV feature film television newspaper gives the thumbs up and says: "No high altitude, but a decent case."

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Audience ratings at tatort-fundus.de, accessed on December 10, 2015.
  2. ↑ Brinkmann investigates a case of extortion resulting in death. short review at TV-Spielfilm, accessed on December 10, 2015.
previous episode
August 24, 1998: Bienzle and the Champion 		Crime scene follow next episode
September 13, 1998: Straight to the heart