Sommernachtsmord (2016)

The elderly herdswoman Adelheid Falkner lays tarot cards on a high Alpine pasture in Tyrol; they foretell death. Some time later, a young woman is found laid out with a wreath of alpine flowers on her head and grave candles burning around her. When the police, who had been able to see the scene from a helicopter, arrive at the site, the body has vanished without a trace. The dead woman is Monika Löffelhart, a German tourist. Before her death, she had given the organist Florian Falkner €10,000 as a donation toward the construction of an organ tower he had planned. As a bar pianist and organist, Florian Falkner made a strong impression, especially on female guests. His girlfriend, Regina Tiefenbrunner, a hotel employee, was jealous every time he managed to win the heart of another tourist, making her one of the suspects. So was Monika’s husband, Elmar, an investment swindler who was equally unhappy about her flirtation, had spied on the two of them, and wanted his money back from Monika. Elmar suspects Florian of murdering Monika and pocketing her money. Major Claudia Wegscheider of the Tyrol State Criminal Police Office in Innsbruck is to solve the case together with Franz, the local police officer, and Fritz Haspinger, the station commander. In the trunk of Elmar Löffelhart’s car, they find three million euros. Wegscheider initially suspects that Elmar Löffelhart did not want to share the money with his wife and murdered her for that reason. Elmar Löffelhart says that three million euros each had been intended for him and his wife. Later, Wegscheider suspects that Florian Falkner killed Monika Löffelhart on her husband’s behalf and received the half of the money originally intended for her in return. Wegscheider discovers that Kothgasser, the branch manager of the bank where the Löffelharts had kept their money in a safe-deposit box, replaced it with counterfeit money. He says he speculated away not only the Löffelharts’ six million euros, but a total of €150 million. Traces of Elmar Löffelhart’s shoes are found at the site where the body was discovered. He admits he was there on the night of her murder, but insists that he did not kill her. He says he had followed and watched Florian Falkner and Monika Löffelhart, but was knocked unconscious and did not come to until the following day. Elmar Löffelhart eventually finds his wife alive on a remote Alpine pasture, where he threatens the Falkners until Isidor Falkner shoots him through the hand and he dies. A flashback shows that the Falkners had only pretended Monika was dead so she could disappear and flee from her husband.