Meiberger - Der Marionettenmörder (2025)

Within a few days, two men disappear without a trace; both are psychologists. Their relatives subsequently receive a marionette modeled on the missing person. Criminal psychologist Thomas Meiberger, who now teaches at the University of Salzburg, is asked to help Chief Inspector Anna Grünwald and Patrol Inspector Ganslinger search for the missing men. A third person, Roland Meier, disappears and is reported missing by his wife, Anita. Johanna Junker, a colleague of Roland’s and co-author of his book, is also abducted. Marionettes are found in both their cases as well. After a television interview with Dean Andrea Breuer, who is in a relationship with Meiberger, the kidnapper contacts him and objects to being judged as psychologically disturbed. There is nothing wrong with him, he says, but with the world around him. Soon afterward, Meiberger’s son Patrick is abducted, and Meiberger finds another marionette. The investigation leads to a retired marionette maker with a criminal record, but Meiberger does not believe he has anything to do with the case. The puppets’ bodies were made using a 3D printer. The printer’s buyer is taken to hospital after a traffic accident and is in grave danger. The investigators then discover that the marionettes are bugged and that the kidnapper has been following their findings all along. After another phone call between Meiberger and the kidnapper, Meiberger suspects that it was not the kidnapper who had been treated by the abducted people, but his child or wife. In fact, forensic specialist Ulla Ganslinger finds a Marie Brandner in the records who had been a patient of the abducted psychologists. Marie had killed her daughter and then herself in November 2022. Either the psychologists did not take Marie seriously, or they did not have enough time for her. Meiberger blames himself because he had turned her away as a patient so he could attend a class reunion. Marie’s husband, Juri Mainländer, is from Germany and has lived in Salzburg since 2005. Mainländer is not found at his apartment, where another marionette modeled on Meiberger is discovered. Mainländer sends Meiberger the coordinates and time for a face-to-face meeting. The police arrest Mainländer there, and Meiberger manages to find the abductees. His son is taken to hospital; Roland Meier also survives, while Johanna has no pulse.