Mörderische Tage - Julia Durant ermittelt (2019)

At the Old Bridge over the Main in Frankfurt, as it is called in the film, a woman’s body hangs over the river from a rope. The rope is tied with a butterfly knot, and the body smells of rose oil. Chief Inspector Julia Durant recognizes the pattern as that of Dietmar Gernot, a serial killer she arrested years ago who is still in prison. She assumes that, despite being incarcerated, he has something to do with the murder. Dr. Thomas Holzer, a university lecturer and a good friend of Durant who is assisting her and her team with the investigation, believes it is the work of a copycat, however. When a missing woman turns up again shortly afterward, Durant and her team hope they have a promising lead. But the young woman is unresponsive and completely distraught, and dies after her nervous system collapses. The cause of death is said to be white torture, a form of psychological torture that causes no physical injuries. After an editor disappears as well, Julia Durant begins to suspect that she may be the reason behind the abduction series. She discovers that her psychotherapist is a link to the victim. The serial killer deliberately leaves clues to lure Julia Durant into his power. For example, he visits a Catholic priest in the confessional—the priest is in love with the editor—and gives him Julia Durant’s phone number. The perpetrator abducts Julia Durant and takes her to a hideout at the Offenbach barrage, where she encounters the abducted editor. The perpetrator releases the editor, who turns up again shortly afterward at the church where the Catholic priest serves. Julia Durant is confronted by the perpetrator, Dr. Thomas Holzer, who intends to drown her in a kind of aquarium. To break her psychologically, he has obtained her psychotherapy file, a fact discovered by her colleagues Markus Schulz and Felix Dombrowski. Her two colleagues rescue her just in time, however. She confronts Dr. Thomas Holzer during a lecture, where the two colleagues arrest him.