Rex Resolution 49: Toedliche Leidenschaft

If you've ever considered infidelity, this episode might give you food for thought. When Helmut Kraus finds out his father has been having an affair with his wife, revenge comes in the form of a storage container dropped on his father from a great height.

Of course, when Brandtner and Boeck first start their investigation, it initially looks as if the case is related to Kraus Senior's gambling history. Alex puts himself in danger, joining an illegal poker game and asking the most pointed questions almost before the first hand is dealt. No wonder he's outed as a cop almost immediately. Good job Rex is on hand to save the day yet again!

When Kraus Senior's little black book (or should I say 'phone directory) comes to light, suspicion shifts to his wife. Cold as ice, she doesn't seem to give her fig about her flattened man. Scary is Boeck's dreamy look as he imagines 48 girlfriends and what he'd get up to. Aiee. Let's not go there, please.

Brandtner decides to talk to Helmut's wife, Ines, to see if she can shed any light on familial relationships or suggest who the latest girlfriend might have been, not knowing he's talking to the guilty party. However, when he leaves, he notices a parking ticket on Ines' car and, following up, realises the truth.

Stressed out, Ines faints and is taken to hospital where it emerges she is pregnant to her husband's father. Rex goes Jerry Springer! Overcome with rage, Helmut takes her forcibly to his mother's office where the mother learns that Helmut was behind the murder. When Helmut hits out at Ines, mother-son love runs deep and the mother helps him hide the unconscious body in a storage container, just as the police arrive. Rex isn't fooled though and notices blood on Helmut's trousers and finds Ines just as she's about to be shipped out of the storyline for good.

Other players include Angelika Bartsch as spurned wife Martina Kraus, Klaus Rohrmoser, not credited with IMDB for this episode, and Iris Junik as the unfaithful daughter-in-law, Ines Kraus.

Recycled Rexers include the late Georg Staudacher as Helmut Kraus, and Johannes Terne, not credited with IMDB for this episode, but also seen in Eiskalt (2000) as Johannes Altman.