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Mrs Domberg (Elfriede Kuzmany), an elderly single woman, wants to leave Munich for Madeira to spend the rest of her life in the sun with her new-found friend Bubach (Curd Jürgens), a man of means by the looks of it. For that end, she has given up her apartment, sold all her furniture, and packed all her belongings. It's only her dog that she's worried about as due to quarantine regulations, he can't be brought to Madeira, but Mrs Domberg hasn't found a place to leave him yet. When Bubach picks her up to leave for Madeira, he promises to put him into an animal shelter - but instead leaves him in some basement then takes her to his house in the country for a last glass of champagne ... and poisons her, then buries her body on the premises. It's only that the dog getsout of the basement, finds his way home, and this way the neighbours (Paula Denk, Werner Pochath) are alarmed, and from then on it's not long before Mrs Domberg is reported missing.

Inspector Derrick (Horst Tappert) and his assistant Harry (Fritz Wepper) are on the case for long, as Mrs Domberg's only one of a handful of women who have disappeared of late after wanting to go to Madeira with a new-found friend, so multiple homicide is a logical conclusion. Now Derrick's method to find the killer is an eccentric one, he takes Mrs Domberg's dog to the café where she spent her afternoons figuring she might have met her killer there, and it's more than likely the dog knew her killer - and indeed, Bubach comes to the café before long, the dog recognizes him ... and from here on, Derrick's sure he's on the right track. However, Derrick can't prove a thing - also because he apparently isn't interested in questioning any witnesses in the café. He just visits Bubach again and again to try to make him crack. But there's another side to Bubach, too: While he's undeniably a ruthless killer, he also loves his niece Kläre (Susanne Uhlen) with all his heart, has been both father and mother to her after her parents died, and now that she's studying at university, he supports her both mentally and financially more than could ever be asked from him. And Kläre stands in front of his uncle like a brick wall, does her best to divert all suspicions - without knowing the truth of course. Harry pays her repeated visits, but she doesn't waiver. Until that is she stumbles across uncle Bubach's next would-be victim Mrs Peters (Inge Birkmann) and sees his murderous plan set into motion herself. She confronts Bubach and tries to talk him into a confession, but he chooses to poison himself, just like he poisoned all his victims.

Now Curd Jürgens, still two years away from his turn as James Bond villain in The Spy Who Loved Me, is of course as impressive a baddie as you'd expect him to be, and the idea to also give him a soft, an even loving side, might not be new but is certainly inspired. This all also at least partly glosses over at least some of the episode's leaps of reason, like why doesn't Derrick question any witnesses, why does Bubach return to the café he met his last victim where he's sure to be recognized, and maybe most importantly, why does Bubach try to lure another victim into his trap with the police being that hot on his trail? And then there's also Herbert Reinecker's trademark stilted dialogue that doesn't sit super-well with the otherwise interesting script. But all that said, still a better episode of the series.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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