Novel: Commissario Brunetti‘s 11^th Case

First Broadcast: May 15^th 2008

 

Storyline

Paola Brunetti, English literature lecturer at the university, is contacted by one of her students after her lecture on the topic of honour. Claudia Leonardo tells her that there is a dark secret in her family past that it not letting her be.

 

On Paola’s demand, Signorina Leonardo tells her that her grandfather was accused and brought to justice during the Second World War. At that trial, he was declared insane and sent to an asylum, where he died years later.

 

Prior to his admission, her grandfather lived with Signora Jacobs, who is still alive and she is like a grandmother to her. Claudia says that it is of great importance to Signora Jacobs that Claudia's grandfather be rehabilitated, and that is why she is not turning to Paola.

 

She does not have the necessary funds to consult a lawyer and, since her husband, Guido, is working with the police, he should be sufficiently familiar with the law to give her some advice about an eventual retrial.

 

Paola arranges a meeting between Claudia Leonardo and her husband for the next day in the Questura. On this date, the young student does not show up because she had been killed in the meantime. Since Signorina Leonard had no other relatives, Commissario Brunetti seeks contact with the 83-year-old Signora Jacobs.

 

She tells him that Claudia's grandfather is said to have used blackmail in order to gain the possession of several valuable paintings. These, however, never showed up again and she never believed that Claudia's grandfather would have been capable of the alleged acts.

 

The old lady tells Brunetti and Sergente Vianello that her granddaughter has been working, next to her studies, at the Biblioteca dell Patria. As part of his investigation, the Commissario and the Sergente find out that Maxwell Ford, who serves as head of the library, is included in Mrs. Jacob’s will as the recipient of a generous sum.

 

In return, Ford signed an agreement with the old lady to acquire a painting that was considered lost, and promised he would testify in order to prove the innocence of Claudia's grandfather. Brunetti is faced with the question of whether Claudia's death might be related to the fact that the contract involved the sale of a forgery and that she found out about it.

 

Signora Elettra’s intervention reveals that there were large movements of money in the account of the student. What is it all about? Or do the then extorted paintings have something to do with it? Like in the episode Acqua Alta, Commissario Brunetti seeks the advice of painter Gabriele Cassato, an old friend of his father’s. Brunetti also obtains interesting information from his father-in-law, Conte Falier.

 

Shortly after, Signora Jacobs is also found dead and the Commissario is certain that the reason for the murders is in the past and can only be solved by explaining former occurrences.

 

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

Axel Milberg as Maxwell Ford

Katrin Sass as Eleonora Ford

Rike Schmid as Claudia Leonardo

Bettina Zimmermann as Franca Capari

Dietmar Mossner as Alvise

 

Director: Sigi Rothemund

Script: Donna Leon, Holger Joos

 

Producers: Benjamin Benedict, Nico Hofmann

Production Manager: Jurgen Schott

 

Camera: Dragan Rogulj

Assistant Director: Ronald Begullar

 

Music: Andre Rieu

 

 

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