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Returning from the bank with the company wages, Staufen (Sigmar Solbach) is held up but manages to chase the robber away using jiu-jitsu - and sure enough the company owner Ströbel (Karl Lieffen) and especially Ströbel's daughter Eva (Brigitta Furgler) celebrate him as hero ... and Staufen's really into Eva. Thing is, this is not what has really happened, local police inspectors Stark (Horst Sachtleben) and Beil (Michael Gahr) soon find out the whole hold-up was only staged by Staufen for bragging rights - but since this is indeed a victimless crime, they cease all investigations, and only a rumour remains. A rumour that doesn't at all sit well with Staufen's new boss Brock (Klaus Dierig), especially since Brock has the hots for Eva himself. Then though, when again carrying the company wages, Staufen is held up again, and this time he shoots the assailant dead - and it turns out to be Popp (Firhjof Vierock), a worker at Ströbel's company. Upon further investigations, investigating inspector Köster (Siegfried Lowitz) of homicide finds out that Brock has hired Popp, knowing of a prior conviction of his, and that he sent out Staufen on his own to fetch the wages, even if after the last hold-up, it was agreed upon that he always ought to have a companion (even if it's more or less agreed upon by now this was just fake). And the more and more evidence is gathered, the more Brock appears to be a tailormade culprit - for all but Köster, for whom the whole thing is too crystal clear, so he orders a reconstruction of the crime ... during which Staufen ultimately gives himself away, having tried desperately to get into the good standings with everybody again after the first fake robbery, even if it meant to kill a man this time around.

So ok, the plot of this one is incredibly far-fetched, to the point where it becomes no longer believable, and the long- and weird-winded way that Köster arrives at his conclusions doesn't help one bit to remedy this, nor does mostly average acting by most of the involved. But it's Siegfried Lowitz once in the lead once again who really saves the episode, his acting just makes the most ludicruous plot elements somewhat palpable, and the running gag about his injured finger (a kitchen accident, actually) really hits home. So not great crime TV by any measure, but not a total failure, even if not seen through a nostalgic lense.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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