Föhnlage. Ein Alpenkrimi (2011)

Chief Inspector Hubertus Jennerwein is on his way to his new post in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where he is to serve as acting head for six months, having been transferred from Munich to his hometown as a punishment. As his first official act, he runs a registered-keeper check because a car had forced him off the road during the drive. His new colleagues make a great effort to win Jennerwein’s favor, but he remains very cold. The föhn weather does its part, and his migraine puts him in an even worse mood. That very evening, he is called to his first case. During a concert, chief door attendant Eugen Liebscher falls from the ceiling into the middle of the audience, taking Ingo Stoffregen to his death with him. At first, everything looks like an accident, since Liebscher was evidently drunk. The town also bears some responsibility: the ceiling area had not been properly secured and should have been closed off. It seems mysterious, however, that the second victim arrived late to the concert and Liebscher fell just after he had taken his seat. This leads Jennerwein to suspect that someone had helped bring about the “accident.” Meanwhile, Detective Nicole Schwattke discovers that someone had tried to hide something on the floor. She almost manages to arrest a suspect, but he escapes without being identified. In the course of his investigation, Inspector Jennerwein clashes with construction contractor Xaver Haraßer. His son Markus’s fingerprints are strangely found in the attic of the concert building. When it turns out that Markus Haraßer was the driver who forced Jennerwein off the road, that puts him in an even worse position with the inspector, and he is kept in pretrial detention. Jennerwein suspects that Markus Haraßer was the one who wanted to hide something in the attic on the night of the concert, and that Eugen Liebscher interrupted him, whereupon Markus may have pushed the man. Meanwhile, the everyday life of local undertaker couple Ursel and Ignaz Grasegger is thrown into disarray. For some time, they have been pursuing a macabre sideline, regularly having corpses delivered to them, which they illegally dispose of for the Italian Mafia by making them disappear in the coffins of innocent villagers. They are helped by Austrian Karl Swoboda, who also lives with the Graseggers. When Swoboda gets into trouble with one of the Mafia men and the man tries to shoot him on the spot, Ignaz Grasegger runs the man over, thereby saving Swoboda’s life. A hunter witnesses the incident, however, and puts the police on Grasegger’s trail. When Jennerwein goes to see the undertaker, he has disappeared. A search of his work premises uncovers coffins with false bottoms. Jennerwein is sure that Grasegger could not have organized this alone. This leads him to Xaver Haraßer, who, in addition to running his regular construction business, is also responsible for cemetery assignments. This brings the pieces together for Jennerwein. Markus Haraßer wanted to hide the Mafia’s money in the attic of the concert hall, and the accident happened in the process, just as Jennerwein and his colleague Schwattke had suspected. The fugitive Graseggers manage, together with Swoboda, to get their hands on the Mafia money and leave the country.