Mann im Schatten (1961)

Vienna, April 1961. The wealthy knitwear manufacturer Miriam Capell is found murdered in her bathtub, which has been left filling continuously with running water. The day before, after a business meeting at her apartment, she had failed to return to her office as expected. The meeting was supposedly with a mysterious Dr. Melchers, who had promised to procure urgently needed modern knitting machines for her without the usual years-long wait for delivery. When she had still not shown up at her company the following day, her former lover Franz Villinger, who also works there as an employee, reported her missing to the police. That same evening, he finds her body together with a police officer. Both Franz Villinger, who has fallen in love with Miriam’s niece Barbara Jäger, recently come to live with her aunt, and Miriam Capell’s mysterious visitor now come under the scrutiny of the investigators from the Security Bureau, led by Police Commissioner Dr. Radosch. He receives help from Chief Inspector Born from Düsseldorf, who has made a short-notice trip to Vienna. A similar crime has taken place there, against a wealthy businesswoman who was also found in her bathtub. The investigators pick up an initial lead to the elusive Dr. Melchers. Josef Kaschubek, the brother of an employee at the murdered woman’s company, who often travels for work, says he met a Dr. Melchers in the dining car of a train bound for Vienna. The police also look into other people, including Professor Höfner, who teaches at the Vienna School of Fashion and receives commissions through the school from the knitwear factory. He is also romantically involved with the head designer, Vera Valentin. A sales representative named Melchers, who was also in Düsseldorf at the time of the crime, is arrested. But during an identification, the witness Josef Kaschubek categorically rules out that this man is the acquaintance he met on the train. The investigators are still troubled by the difficulty of determining the precise time of death, since the running water makes it much harder to establish. At first, they assume the murder took place on the day Miriam’s body was found and check the suspects’ alibis accordingly. Meanwhile, Barbara Jäger arranges to meet Franz Villinger so he can accompany her to the dead woman’s apartment. She wants to retrieve a much-needed book. When Villinger fails to show up, she goes to the apartment alone. There, she surprises an intruder, who immediately stabs her. Barbara is taken to hospital with injuries. While dining at a restaurant, Dr. Radosch has a crucial thought after reading the menu. Miriam Capell’s last meal, spinach, was not eaten on the day she was found, but the day before—the day she disappeared. This means Franz Villinger has no alibi for the time of the crime. He is remanded in custody. He is also suspected of stabbing Barbara in the apartment, since he offers no explanation for failing to meet her. Dr. Radosch is not satisfied with Villinger’s arrest. An unwound clock and a visit to the Telecommunications Technical Central Office lead him to the real culprit. His chess partner, pianist Hofleitner, is hurriedly brought in for an identification, as the description of Dr. Melchers fits him too. But once again, the witness Josef Kaschubek says he does not recognize him as the Dr. Melchers from the train. Dr. Radosch confronts Kaschubek with the fact that he is the only person claiming to have seen Dr. Melchers. When Kaschubek continues to deny any involvement and demands proof, Radosch shows him the handwritten original of a telegram to the murdered woman, in which Dr. Melchers proposes their final business meeting on the day of the crime. A comparison with several official documents belonging to Kaschubek clearly proves that it is in his handwriting. Josef Kaschubek is arrested. When Hofleitner complains that he has to hurry or he will be late for his performance and they will kill him, Dr. Radosch advises him: “Tell them you’ve just killed someone!”