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Absent-mindedly, Verena (Krista Keller) takes a sip from a sample liquer bottle that has been sent to her by some liquer company - and breaks down almost immediately. She still manages to call an ambulance, and her life is saved just in time as it turns out the liquer has been poisoned in an obvious attempt to murder her. Inspector Köster (Siegfried Lowitz) starts his investigation and soon enough finds out that Verena had a sister, Annabelle, who has disappeared 8 years ago. And she has a perfect motive to kill Verena, as Verena's rich yet sickly uncle Yves (Paul Hoffmann) is to leave her everything, and only in case of her death would Annabelle inherit this vast fortune. But as mentioned, nobody knows where Annabelle might be. Two more unsuccessful attempts on Verena's life are made before she's put under police protection ... and then Annabelle does show up (and is also played by Krista Keller), but neither to Verena and the police but to Verena's ex Walter (Heinz Drache), who just happens to have had an affair with Annabelle, and whom she asks now to do away with Verena for her. Walter though goes to the police with this, so Annabelle tries to hire a contract killer (Werner Pochath), but somehow Verena spots him in time and calls the police on him. Then it's found out that Annabelle has stolen her uncle's hunting rifle and bought some ammonition, and Verena calls Köster as she has spotted her sister in the house across the street. So Köster's men search the house across the street while Köster takes a look at Verena's basement - and finds the skeleton of Annabelle whom apparently Verena has killed back when and has since had phases of schizophrenia, until her guilt drove her to set up the whole spectacle ...

Interestingly, this episode of Der Alte is the first collaboration between director Alfed Vohrer and actor Heinz Drache since the Edgar Wallace movies of the 1960s, specifically Der Hund von Blackwood Castle/The Hound of Blackwood Castle from 1968, and the whole episode, from its weird psychological undercurrents to its finale, with the skeleton in the basement and the killer pulled out of the hat sure would have made the movie series of old proud, likewise Krista Keller's at times very over-the-top performance. So in a way, intentional or not this is a nice hommage and one of the more entertaining (if slightly silly) episodes of Der Alte for sure.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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