Rex Resolution 81: Der Tod kam zweimal (S6 E6)

Narcissistic? Well. you could be forgiven for thinking so. Marc, a male model, is watching and freezing video of himself showering. Craving a little more excitement, he sets up a couple of lines of cocaine and sniffs it up, just as a female visitor arrives. She's on his case, she wants to know if he's faithful to her. Marc's adamant he is. She then demands to know why their engagement must be kept secret. Marc spiels her some line about wanting to keep their life private for now and that they'll eventually have a big surprise party to announce their future together. Obviously, we're already guessing that isn't going to happen.

She's not convinced either but for completely different reasons and drags out a pair of delicate panties she found in his car to prove her point. Obviously, they don't belong to her or to him. What's more, she says that she knows exactly to whom they belong although she doesn't expand on that. Marc denies everything and, when she asks for water, it seems he's successfully allayed her suspicions. When he returns from fetching her water, she leaves. He resumes his glass of wine. Can anyone say drink spiking?

Unknown to either of them, someone has been watching them from an attic across the street. A man in a long leather coat stares intently through a set of binoculars and fails to notice the presence of the female caretaker of the block. She watches out of the attic window as he leaves and sees him enter Marc's apartment building. Finding it all a little odd, she thinks she should ring the police because she's seen him there multiple times. Her partner however thinks she should have questioned the man herself and that to call the police would create trouble. For the moment, she leaves it.

Marc obviously knows the man as he lets him in to his apartment. Marc is in poor shape though, falling over, losing alertness, and the visitor hurriedly fetches him some water before helping him lie down. It's obviously rush hour at Marc's for as the male visitor is leaving, another woman arrives. She's obviously been hitting the bottle and heads up to Marc's bedroom.

Next morning Brandtner is out clothes shopping with Rex. While Brandtner looks at rather conservative suit jacket, Rex is much more adventurous and selects Brandtner a rather outlandish jacket. Broad striped and really badly tailored too. Mind you, Brandtner would look good in a doggy bag. When a call comes in about a body found in a dumpster, Brandtner has to make a snap choice and ends up taking and wearing the jacket, earning himself untold mirth from Graf and Boeck. Graf highlights an unusual wound on the man but, true to form, he refuses to be drawn on details until he's able to perform all the proper tests. In true Rex form, another amazing coincidence occurs as Brandtner recognises the man. He just happened to be in an advert in the fashion store he just visited, though not modelling Brandtner's new jacket.

Across town, the mystery male visitor is sitting in his office, staring at photos of Marc. He turns out to be Gallauer, a model agent. When Brandtner visits him to ask about Marc, he claims he was in his office the previous evening and Brandtner seems happy to leave it at that for now.

Mother and daughter designers, the Schneiders, are setting up to display their new collection. While watching a briefing of their planned show on television, news of Marc's death is broadcast. The daughter Katharina, the girl who initially visited Marc, has locked herself in a room. Her mother, coincidentally, who just happened to be the second and drunk female visitor to Marc, can't get to talk to her.

Meanwhile the caretaker who noticed the man watching Marc's flat also hears of the murder. Her partner is still against her going to the police, even when they show up at Marc's flat. Her partner has a record for domestic violence and when he raises his hand towards her, it's enough to persuade her to stay put.

In Marc's flat, Kunz is admiring Marc's body from the video while lamenting the state of his own. Sorry, Fuzzy, buff you aren't. With the cocaine noted, Boeck discovers blood flecks on the sofa. Kunz score the main prize though. He finds the panties that had been found in Marc's car by Katharina. He's rather pleased with himself.

Brandtner heads off to pay a visit to the Schneiders. The mother's assistant is telling her she needs to think carefully about what to say if the police show up. Katharina is eaves-dropping and hears the mother telling the assistant she should tell the police she visited Marc the previous evening. The assistant says she should do no such thing and sets her up with an alibi.

As Brandtner arrives, the models are practicing their walks and it's not long before Rex is up there, giving a turn. Ah Rex, you handsome boy. When Brandtner comes across Katharina, she denies knowing much about Marc. Katharina directs Brandtner to her mother, pointing out that her mother could have had a drink or two or three... The mother is also reluctant to answer questions, blaming it on pre-show jitters. Brandtner indicates Katharina was also unable to help much and the mother tells Brandtner that Katharina is mourning her father who died of cancer. He's quite surprised when he finds out the death occurred three years ago. When Brandtner asks where the mother was the previous night, the assistant jumps in rather quickly with the alibi.

As he leaves, Brandtner talks again to Katharina, who wants to know what her mother said. Brandtner says it's interesting that neither of them mentioned that women chased after Marc as told to him by Gallauer but Katharina says that was just part of the image built for Marc and not necessarily true.

At headquarters, Kunz has the terribly unpleasant job of working his way through underwear catalogues to identify the origins of the found panties. How the poor man does suffer! Turns out the panties in question are very exclusive and pricey.

Graf has discovered that Marc didn't die from the strange stab wound but from respiratory paralysis, caused by an overdose of methadone. He was already dead when he was stabbed so effectively he was murdered twice, raising all kinds of questions.

Brandtner follows up with Marc's drug dealer, Sasha. Sasha denies all drug dealing activity but Rex discovers his stash and the chase is on. No one escapes Rex and Sasha is no different. He ends up telling Brandtner what he knows - that Marc was hooked on cocaine and that it was sourced for him by his agent Gallauer. Brandtner asks if Gallauer and Marc were lovers but Sasha doesn't know. When Boeck goes to follow up with Gallauer, he finds out Gallauer has left the country.

Despite Marc's death, the fashion show is going ahead. When the mother starts with a dedication to Marc, Katharina walks off in disgust. She accuses her mother of using Marc's death to grab attention. She says she knows what was going on between the mother and Marc. Brandtner and Rex have been watching their interaction unfold and interrupt. He asks them about Gallauer and Marc being lovers. The mother says Gallauer wanted a relatonship with Marc but Marc didn't like men sexually, adding that Gallauer was therefore jealous. planting suspicion on him.

The caretaker's charming partner has drunk himself to sleep and she decides to take the opportunity to call the police. Kunz and Boeck drop by with a photo of Gallauer and she identifies him as the mystery man and confirms him as the person who entered Marc's apartment building.

Gallauer has arrived back in town. Whe he phones in to his office, he finds out the police have been to see him again. Little does he know that Brandtner is waiting for him. When Gallauer spots him as gets his luggage out the taxi, he jumps back in and tells the taxi to head back to the airport. Unfortunately, he doesn't close the boot of the taxi properly and SuperRex jumps in the back, ending the journey. At headquarters, Gallauer has no choice but to answer some questions. Brandtner tells him he was seen visiting Marc on the night of the murder. Gallauer says he fleed from Brandtner because he had supplied Marc with drugs and he had found Marc in a bad way, possibly having overdosed. He says he didn't call for help because he didn't want to be dragged into a scandal. Marc died in his arms. Brandtner then tells him was poisoned with methadone.

Mother and daughter designer are falling apart. Katharina accuses her mother of cheating on her father until he died of cancer, of cheating her of her inheritance and her work, and then having an affair with Marc. Her proof for the latter asks the mother? The infamous panties. The panties belonged to her. In her defence, the mother says she didn't know about Marc's affair with Katharina. Katharina then accuses her mother of stabbing Marc out of jealousy and leaves.

Gallauer admits to having loved Marc. He couldn't have him and that's why he was reduced to watching Marc from the attic. Unrequited love stinks. He tells Brandtner that on the evening of Marc's death, he saw Katharina arrive and noted that they argued. He saw her throw panties at him and leave. It was then that he went over to Marc's apartment but, as he was leaving, the mother arrived and he snuck out.

Lakeside, poor Katharina sits. Brandtner is in his car, one move ahead as always. He's checking with Graf whether methadone can also be used as a pain killer. Bingo. Katharina's father died of cancer, thus providing a source for methadone. He heads over to the Schneiders office and confronts the mother. She persists with her alibi until Brandtner tells her she was seen at the flat by Gallauer. She tries to dump a match box with number of the taxi company she used. A silly thing to do because Rex is always going to fish out a jettisoned clue. He must have been a retriever in a previous life. A simple call to the taxi company is all it will take to bust her alibi. When she confirms to Brandtner that her husband was using methadone for pain management, it's enough for Brandtner to arrest her.

When it becomes apparent that Katharina is missing, alarm bells ring. A letter is found by Katharina to the mother confirming Katharina's role in the murder and revealing a plan for suicide. Urgent action is required and Brandtner is soon in pursuit. By this time, Katharina is on a boat in the middle of the lake, swigging methadone. Brandtner and Rex are soon headed towards the Schneider's summer house, where, of course, they find Katharina just in the nick of time.

Other players include Andrea Sawatzki , above, as the mother, Gerd Silberbauer, above, as Gallauer, Matthias Johannik as Marc, and Jasper Wood, not credited with IMDB for this episode.

Recycled Rexers Vera Borek, here as Marie Puchner, the assistant, and earlier in Hetzjagd (1999) as Frau Swoboda and Denise Zich, here as Katharina and in the Italian series episodes Calibro 7.65 (2008) and L'incontro (2008) as Erika Hedl.

Noteworthy in this episode: I've often commented on the unique skill of Rex cast members at playing dead. This time I caught Marc (Matthias Johannik) blinking as he was examined by Graf and the team. Gotcha.