Crime scene: Journey into nowhere
| Episode of the series Tatort | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Journey to nowhere |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Production company |
Saarland radio |
| length | 88 minutes |
| classification | Episode 520 ( List ) |
| First broadcast | December 29, 2002 on Das Erste |
| Rod | |
| Director | Hartmut Griesmayr |
| script |
Peter Zingler , Hartmut Griesmayr , Ute Geber |
| production | Joachim Schönberger |
| music | Frank Nimsgern |
| camera | Charlie Steinberger |
| cut | Walter Schellemann |
| occupation | |
| |
Journey into Nowhere is the title of the 15th Tatort episode with Chief Detective Max Palu ( Jochen Senf ). The 520th Tatort episode was first broadcast on December 29, 2002 on Das Erste . It is about the death of two Afghan refugees and the involvement of a shipping company in the case of people smuggling.
action
A truck carrying refugees from Afghanistan is crossing the border into Germany from Austria. The driver wants to refuel at a petrol station, but since the refugees are too loud, he has to stop refueling and continue driving quickly. He's running out of fuel on the way. When he stops in a dark place to give the refugees the opportunity to stretch their legs, a man lies lifeless in the hold.
The next morning, another truck driver who happened to be using the forest path found two male corpses by the roadside. One of them was shot, the other, as it turned out later, died of a heart attack. It is immediately clear to Palu and Deiniger that this is human smuggling. In the vicinity of where the bodies were found, the officers find a whimpering little girl who apparently also came from the transport. Palu takes the girl home with him and takes care of her. Deiniger notes that people smuggling has increased recently. But Germany is only a transit country, most of the refugees are brought to a collection camp near Calais, where they are supposed to find a way through the tunnel to England.
Meanwhile, the refugees are being unloaded from the truck at an unknown location. The truck driver, Willi Kastenholz, calls his haulage company and says that he urgently needs to speak to boss Erwin Hallmeier. He goes to see him and tells him that there were two dead and that a little girl has disappeared from the group. Hallmeier, who is in a wheelchair himself, then explains that he couldn't use any witnesses and asks his confidante Frank Stetter whether he will take care of it. Kastenholz wants to get out, but Hallmeier makes it clear to him that he cannot get out of the matter.
Palu tries to find an interpreter so he can question the child. He gets her to make a child-like drawing of the truck driver. She also paints vegetables, so Palu decides that the truck must have come from southern Europe and instructs Deininger to check all shipping companies. Meanwhile, the truck driver receives a visit from Habib, the Afghan friend of his boss's daughter, who accuses him of murdering his brother, but the truck driver denies having fired the shots. Habib talks to his girlfriend, Sabine Hallmeier, about the incident, whereupon she confronts her father. He emphasizes that he is only doing this business for the good of the company and that it should not be so pathetic. Meanwhile, Habib takes care of the refugees, who are housed in an old warehouse outside the city.
Margit, who knows Habib from the German course she teaches, seeks him out in the hope of finding an interpreter for the girl. Without knowing that he knew about the people smuggling, she asked him to come to them the next day to translate. Habib informs Hallmeier immediately, who instructs him to only translate what the police already know. Finally he is blackmailed by Hallmeier, who demands € 30,000 for his silence.
During their research among the forwarding agents in Saarbrücken, the investigators very soon come across Hallmeier. Palu notices Kastenholz, who is wearing a red cap, just like the girl had drawn it. With the help of photos from the central driver's license office, the girl can clearly identify Kastenholz. Palu then applied for a search warrant from the Hallmeier forwarding agency. The officers find the alleged murder weapon in Willi Kastenholz's truck. The documents that the forwarding company hands over to the officials, however, are missing those about Kastenholz and his tour. Kastenholz himself has also disappeared and is found dead shortly afterwards. Although Hallmeier has given Setter to understand that he should also take care of the box wood problem, he is surprised at the death of his employee and takes the opportunity to incriminate Habib. This is now being searched for, but has been submerged. He secretly meets with Sabine and protests that he has nothing to do with Kastenholz's death. He succeeds in kidnapping the girl from Palu's care and bringing her back to her parents. From her he learns what really happened that night. Accordingly, Kastenberg did not kill his brother, but another car suddenly stopped next to the truck and fired at his brother. So it can be assumed that the shooter is also the killer of Kastenberg.
Palu and Deininger find out that the tire tracks from both crime scenes are identical; they belong to Frank Stetter's off-road vehicle. The police shadow Stetter and follow him and Hallmeier to a forest path, but Stetter can shake off his pursuers. Palu then requests a helicopter. Sabine Hallmeier has rented a van so that Habib can transport the refugees on. Stetter and Hallmeier follow the transporter, Sabine Hallmeier sees this and also follows. Stetter and Hallmeier can stop the car, Stetter wants to shoot Habib as an annoying witness, but Sabine Hallmeier intervenes. Erwin Hallmeier then shoots Stetter. Palu and Deininger watched the action from the helicopter. Erwin Hallmeier claims that he shot Stetter in emergency aid for his daughter. But his daughter says that she will not confirm this and that she now hates her father. When Palu asked who shot the Afghans in the forest, Hallmeier replied that Steter also did that because he had lost his nerve. The girl can confirm this later because she saw everything.
reception
Audience ratings
When it was first broadcast on December 29, 2002, Reise ins Nothing reached a total of 6.52 million viewers, corresponding to a market share of 19.2%.
Reviews
TV Spielfilm judged: "Touching, but shallow and sedate".
Web links
- Crime scene: Travel to nowhere in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Summary of the plot of Reise ins nothing on the ARD website
- Travel to nowhere with the crime scene fund
- Travel to nowhere with Tatort fans
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tatort: Journey into Nowhere at tatort-fundus.de. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
- ↑ Tatort: Journey into Nowhere at tvspielfilm.de. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
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previous episode December 22, 2002: Time-Out |
Crime scene follow |
next episode January 5th, 2003: Romeo and Juliet |
Salu Palu (1988) | Winter Chess (1988) | Heart Failure (1989) | Blue Lady (1990) | Camerone (1992) | Kesseltrift (1993) | A surefire trap (1995) | The Decision Maker (1996) | Alone in the Trap (1998) | Penalty Kick (1999) | The seagull (2000) | You Have No Chance (2001) | Target (2001) | Alibi for Amelie (2002) | Journey into Nowhere (2002) | Vera's weapons (2003) | Devil in the Body (2004) | Revenge Angel (2005)