Novel: Commissario Brunetti‘s 15^th Case

First Broadcast: October 22^nd 2009

 

Storyline

Murano glass, manufactured in the Murano Island Group glass blowing factories about 1 kilometers north of Venice, has been known for centuries. Giovanni De Cal is the combative owner of one of the Murano glass factories, whose business is going rather poorly.

 

During an argument with his daughter, Assunte, who also produces glassware in the factory, he threatens her with her disinheritance. The next morning, Commissario Brunetti is notified that there has been a death on Murano.

 

When in the de Cal glass manufacture factory with his assistant, Sergente Vianello, the two are informed by Dr. Aurono that Giovanni de Cal was lying dead in front of a kiln and mummified due to the prolonged exposure to heat. However, it is without a doubt the murdered body of de Cal.

 

The initial investigation reveals that Giorgio Tassini, an employee of the glass factory, already wrote several letters to the Questura in which he indicates that de Cal used pollutants that are no longer allowed in his factory. When Brunetti and Vianello want to talk with Tassini about the death of his boss, they reach the conclusion that the officials came by due to the letters sent by him.

 

Speaking to Tassini, the two investigators find out that he is blaming his now deceased employer for ensuring that his little daughter was born with a disability, and since then requires constant monitoring and medication. The pollutants processed in the factory had led to a change of the genes, which led to the disability of his daughter.

 

While Brunetti is enjoying an espresso in a bar close to the de Cal glass factory during the evening, he looks at the black and white photographs hanging on the wall and notes that his father can be seen on one of the images. In an interview with the host, Brunetti speaks about his father working as a glass blower on the island. Later, Brunetti sees Assunta de Cal and follows her. Shortly afterwards, the body of the dead Giorgio Tassini is found in a pool of water.

  

The day after, Signorina Elletra finds the letters written by Tassini and in a book left in Tassini’s apartment, Commissario Brunetti and Vianello stumble upon evidence that leads to a search warrant upon the de Cal factory. Thereby, the two police officers realize that Tassinis allegations apparently correspond to the truth. Contaminated water is collected in a pond and periodically removed and disposed of.

 

According to the records of the company, however, this has not been done for a long time. Sergente Vianell notes that at a lower corner of the tank is an outlet from which a pipe passes into the soil. Both the sequence and the tube were disguised by a crate and other debris. Brunetti arranges an excavator halfway to expose the pipe lagoon, which turns out to be a junction that seems to lead to another factory.

 

Water samples are taken at the outlet of the pipe into the sea and the laboratory is facing an incredibly high level of pollutants. But then Assunta de Cal makes an appearence in the Questura and shows Brunetti that, according to list of bought resources, the business of her father had not been using any pollutants for a long time. Because her father had not paid the bills, his suppliers had refused to supply him with any more goods.

 

If the glass factory de Cal was not responsible for the pollutants, then who led the contaminated wastewater into the sea? Is there a possibility that Gianluca Fasano, who is running for the mayor’s office in Venice, has something to do with the matter?

 

Starring

Uwe Kockisch as Commissario Guido Brunetti

Julia Jager as Paola Brunetti

Karl Fischer as Sergente Vianello

Michael Degen as Vice Questore Patta

Annett Renneberg as Elettra Zorzi

Laura Syniawa as Chiara Brunetti

Pattrick Diemling as Raffi Brunetti

 

Other Roles

Katharina Wackernagel as Assunta De Cal

Heikko Deutschmann as Gianluca Fasano

Anaid Iplicjian as Tante Sophia

Andreas Schmidt as Giorgio Tassini

Birte Schade as Sonia Tassini

Wolfgang Hinze as Giovanni De Cal

Ueli Jaggi as Dr. Stefano Aurono (Pathologist)

 

Director: Sigi Rothemund

Script: Donna Leon, Holger Joos

 

Producers: Benjamin Benedict, Nico Hofmann

Production Manager: Jurgen Schott

 

Camera: Dragan Rogulj

Music: Andre Rieu

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