Die Toten von Salzburg - Treibgut (2021)

In their seventh case together, Major Peter Palfinger and Chief Inspector Hubert Mur from Traunstein investigate the murder of Kang Lien, a German-Chinese tour guide. Her body is found in a suitcase washed up in the Salzach, where it blocks the propeller of an amphibious vehicle used for tourist trips. The body had been in the water for at least seven days. Kang Lien was bludgeoned to death, then dumped in the river after her death, and had been reported missing ten days earlier. She was the lover of Konstantin Mandl, son of Rudi Mandl, a Salzburg bus-tour operator. Konstantin had filed the missing-person report. Kang Lien worked as a tour guide for Rudi Mandl’s company. The suitcase bears the initials “B & S,” for Buchegger und Sohn, a leather goods shop in Salzburg’s Old Town. There is a file on Franz Buchegger, the son, for sexual harassment, attempted coercion, and extortion. Kang had reported him for stalking. According to Franz’s mother, Klara Buchegger, they had asked Kang not to keep blocking the shop entrance, so as not to drive away their regular customers, and the complaint against Franz was dropped. From Franz Buchegger, Palfinger learns that the suitcase was custom-made for Rudi Mandl. Mandl says he bought it from Buchegger to show his goodwill, after Buchegger accused him of disrupting his business. The suitcase had been stored in Mandl’s workshop, where many people had access to it. Kang Tian, the murder victim’s father, runs Kang’s Gardens Chinese restaurant in Traunstein, where Lien had brought the Mandl company’s tour buses. Mur initially considers Kang the prime suspect, suspecting an honor killing or a crime connected with the Chinese mafia. The autopsy reveals that Kang Lien was twelve weeks pregnant. Konstantin Mandl and his mother, Elisabeth, say they knew nothing about the pregnancy. A bus emergency hammer is considered the likely murder weapon because of the injuries to her skull. Blood traces are found on one of the Mandls’ buses, and an emergency hammer is missing. Mur learns from Kang Tian that Lien was pregnant not by Konstantin, but by his father. A DNA analysis confirms this. Palfinger’s brother Sebastian also works as a tour guide and as a personal guide specializing in sacred art and Baroque churches. Through him, Russmeyer gets an insight into the tourism industry’s business dealings. At a party hosted by Sebastian “Wastl,” who flirts with his agency manager, Uschi Kastner, Russmeyer unknowingly eats hash cookies. Franz Buchegger then blackmails her with photos taken on his phone, threatening to report her to the police for cannabis use. However, after she identifies herself, Buchegger disappears. Landtag President Zirner is then anonymously sent a photo showing Russmeyer eating the cookies. Zirner orders a drug test by the government doctor, and Russmeyer faces suspension. With Palfinger’s help, however, Russmeyer switches the urine sample, so the test comes back negative. Russmeyer and Palfinger happen to discover that Franz Buchegger took the photo. During a search of Buchegger’s home, Palfinger and Seywald find numerous other photos, including one showing Kang Lien and Rudi Mandl having sex. Buchegger says he wanted to expose the tourism industry’s corrupt mafia-like methods: Mandl had instructed his tour guides to avoid the Bucheggers’ shop because Klara Buchegger had refused to hand over ten percent of her sales to him. Franz had also sent the photos to Elisabeth Mandl. According to an email, she wanted Lien to go to the United States and end her relationship with her husband. Rudi Mandl wanted to start a family with his pregnant girlfriend and make a fresh start. After police find traces of Kang Lien’s blood in the trunk of Elisabeth Mandl’s car, she is finally arrested for Kang Lien’s murder while attempting to dispose of the murder weapon. In a subplot, Chief Superintendent Seywald receives an offer from Landtag President Zirner to retire early with no reduction in benefits. He would then have more time for his personal interests. Seywald accuses Zirner of homophobia and announces that he has entered into a civil partnership with funeral director René Kleist. Mur and his wife Helene have overcome their marital crisis. Mur has agreed to undergo a fasting cure and is attending group therapy to get his outbursts of anger under control. His unusually gentle behavior, however, irritates his colleague, Police Sergeant Wagner, who complains about Mur’s new manner. Mur responds with an outburst of anger, restoring things to how they used to be.