Die reichen Leichen. Ein Starnbergkrimi (2014)

Police cadet Ariane Fink from Dortmund finds herself at Lake Starnberg, where, soon after arriving, she and her colleague and superior, Lu Reinhold, have to deal with a body in the water that looks like the fairytale king Ludwig II. On the shore, Ariane spots tracks suggesting that two people were there. To identify the dead man, Ariane and her young colleague Timo Senst seek advice from Josef Haufferding, who knows a great deal about the history of King Ludwig and is also acquainted with some of his greatest admirers. On their way back, the two police officers immediately have to deal with a hit-and-run accident. A car has struck a female cyclist at high speed. Because help cannot arrive quickly enough in this remote area, the woman dies at the scene. The autopsy of the “Kini” (King) reveals that the man suffered from narcolepsy and that his death was probably an accident. The Starnberg police soon get their next case: Sisi has now also been kidnapped. Sisi Weilinger is the daughter of a very wealthy, long-established Starnberg industrialist family. Her mother remains remarkably composed and is convinced that her daughter will soon be bought back. The kidnapper demands five million, which Rita Weilinger makes available the very next day. Sisi’s father takes the money to the drop-off point, where, because the police are watching, the person collecting it is immediately apprehended. The young man is questioned and says he was only supposed to pick up the “package” and leave it in a locker. Although the kidnapper has not received the money, Sisi soon turns up safe and sound in Starnberg. The police have no idea that Sisi’s father, Gerd Sinnern, who has been divorced from Rita Weilinger for some time, is behind the kidnapping. His ex-wife had withdrawn five million twice from her accounts, apparently in response to an additional message. Since her ex-husband had anticipated that the police would thwart the handover, he had passed his share to an accomplice shortly before the exchange. The accomplice now says they make a good team and should keep working together. When Gerd Sinnern refuses, he simply beats his accomplice to death. The next day, the body is found, and the investigators uncover clues that the young man was involved in the kidnapping. They gradually realize that Sisi’s father was involved in the entire kidnapping and ransom handover, and that her mother lied to the police. Rita Weilinger learns that her ex-husband’s company was bankrupt. As he tries to leave Starnberg, Sinnern drowns after attempting to murder Ariane Fink. The mother throws her daughter out of the house for supporting her father. Through painstaking investigative work, the identity of the man found in Lake Starnberg is eventually established as well. Josef Haufferding had made the man up to look like King Ludwig and, with his help, had produced a documentary that included a swim in the lake. He could not have foreseen that the man would actually drown. But since Haufferding did not help him, he must answer for failing to render assistance.