Rex Resolution 57: Furchtbare Wahrheit

Along with truck drivers, another common theme seems to be crazed pianists. In this episode, Kordes is such a man, a concert pianist whose career was tragically cut short by the loss of a finger in a skiing accident. Separated from his wife and son, the wife being the skier who ran over his finger, our first introduction to the family is through son Maximilan, who is left waiting outside school for his mother to pick him up.

When she doesn't arrive, Max heads to the jeweller shop where she works, only to find Brandtner, Boeck, Rex and, oh oh, Graf, on the scene. Panicked Max rushes in, thinking the dead body on the floor is his mother. Luckily for him, it isn't. The shop has been held up and, while both assistants have been shot, his mother has survived and has been taken to hospital.

With no one to look after Max, Brandtner sets about finding his father. He tracks him down to a concert hall, working as a piano tuner. Kordes is overjoyed to have care of his son. It enables him to push him harder to practice at piano so he can vicariously relive his lost career.

A couple of things worry Brandtner about the robbery. The perpetrator seems to know a lot about the setup of the shop and only took worthless items. Initially, suspicion falls on the shop owner, particularly as his alibi doesn't hold out and Kordes has a seemingly solid alibi. However, it soon emerges that shop owner has a secret drug problem and has been evasive for that reason.

When Brandtner reviews the security tapes from the shop, he realises that Max's mother seems to have recognised the hold up man and has said something. With no sound, he calls in a lip reader to decode what was said and this confirms his thoughts. He realises that Kordes indeed has a motive in resenting the mother for the loss of his finger and therefore his career. When Alex goes to his flat, he finds taped music player and it becomes clear that the alibi given isn't so solid after all.

Realising the mother is at risk, he tries to call the hospital. Unknown to him, Kordes is already there, in the process of suffocating his ex-wife. When Brandtner arrives, it seems he is too late but, fortunately, the woman can be revived.

Across town, Kordes is indulging his lost dreams, having bought Max tails and playing a duet with him on stage. Sadly, it's all too late and Brandtner and team arrive to arrest him mid-number.

Other players include Michael Schoenborn, above, as pianist Kordes but not credited with IMDB for this episode, Laurence Rupp , above, as Maximilian Kordes, Ursula Mihelic, not listed with IMDB, Erich Schleyer , above, as Holt, Liliana Nelska, above, not credited with IMDB, Dany Sigel, above, not credited with IMDB, and the late Leon Askin, above, also not credited with IMDB.