Kommissar Rex (Inspector Rex) (1994) s06e12 Episode Script

Series 6, Episode 12

1 INSPECTOR REX THE MILLION DOLLAR HORSE Please take good care of Sirius.
Theresa, go and get changed.
We have a plane to catch.
What will I do without him for so long? Take care.
She'd do better in the Emirates shows if she rode Sirius.
You know their quarantine rules.
Come on.
I'll just change my shoes.
Sirius would be locked up for six months.
Let him win here.
And he will.
If he could jump 10% higher he'd be unbeatable.
You never wanted me to use my methods.
Because of Theresa.
- But we'll be away now.
- You can count on me.
Sirius will win every jumping event.
She mustn't know anything about it.
Right.
Then Swoboda will have to go.
My brother will help me.
Are you sure he'll be any help? Don't worry.
He knows about horses and he'll do what I say.
Very well If you say so.
Don't forget the veterinary inspection for the insurance.
It's all in your hands.
Very good, Sirius.
Good boy.
Stay calm.
That's enough for today.
Here.
Go to the pub.
- Yes, but - I'll look after Sirius.
- Thanks.
- The whip.
Come on.
Hurry UP- Move, move! Move! Pull up those legs.
Gerhard, come here.
Make sure you give it to him.
- You want him to do the bars? - What else? Here.
Get a move on, you loser.
I'll show you who's boss.
Use the whip.
Jump! I'll show you.
Gerhard.
Call him back.
Hurry UP- Get a move on.
You can do better than that.
Come on.
Once more! Gerhard.
The whip.
Shit.
Get up.
Come on Get up.
Come on, get up.
His front legs are broken.
Not even a vet can help now.
Get the gun.
You can't do that.
Sirius.
Come, get up.
Please.
No! No! - I'll tell Theresa.
- Shut up! Gerhard.
Give me a hand.
No! Let him go.
Shit! He's dead.
- You killed him, you idiot.
- I didn't mean to.
We must think of something.
I'll take care of it.
I didn't mean to, Arthur.
Kunz? What are you noting down? My dental appointments.
Prevention's better than drilling.
Oh.
Those idiots.
Listen to this.
You won't believe it.
"In the murder case against Alfred Berger in the Vienna court the following officers of the Homicide Squad are to testify.
" That's normal.
"The officers Brandtner, BÃck and Ravenhorst.
" I said that's normal.
- Hello, Doctor.
- Mr Meiser from the insurance.
I've only dealt with Mrs Latzki till now.
How do you do? Gerhard, come here.
The blood samples I took last week are all okay.
- Hurry up.
- Sirius is in good health.
I just need to check his mobility.
But as you can see Would you please sign here? Here.
Everything's fine.
Till next time.
Goodbye.
Look.
That's the famous Sirius.
They must torture him to get him to perform like that.
We'll soon find out.
It's high time we looked into it.
- Did you dump him there? - Yes.
At Arnold's.
Hurry UP- Arnold! Arnold.
What did you do, you rogue? The witnesses, Brandtner, BÃck and Ravenhorst.
Gentlemen.
A confession was made by the accused, Mr Berger, when you arrested him.
He has now withdrawn it in jail.
That is why I summoned you.
Mr Brandtner? Mr BÃck? Where is Mr Ravenhorst? This is Reginald von Ravenhorst, better known as Rex.
Sorry.
Brandtner.
Arnold is a prize bull.
Why do I need to put him down? What was that man doing here? Either he was suicidal or dead drunk.
Has he ever attacked a man before? Look.
Arnold is a bull.
If someone comes too close Bang! Fair enough.
Any idea who the victim is? By the look of him Alex! - We found no papers on him.
- Damn.
Cause of death: broken neck.
The bull ran over him, but he was already dead.
- I'll know more in a few hours.
- Bye, Leo.
Rex.
Show me where the man came from.
- He must have come by car.
- And got out here.
Or he was pushed out.
Come on, Rex.
What is it, Gerhard? What's the matter? I I didn't mean to.
I didn't mean to kill Swoboda.
I couldn't sleep all night.
- I'll tell the police everything.
- No, you won't.
- It just happened.
- But I No buts! Now then.
I want you to take this fax to Budapest.
Find some street urchin, give him 300 Schillings to take it to a post office, so you're not seen.
Then you drive back to your farm and stay there.
Got that? - Did you get that? - I'll do whatever you want.
Here.
I'm not a little boy any more.
You are sometimes.
The man was about twenty.
There's no blood alcohol.
He must have struggled.
His knuckles are badly grazed.
Blood under his fingernails.
The lab has the details.
- It wasn't the bull.
- Won't the farmer be happy! Yes so will the bull.
"We've got Sirius.
Pay ten million schillings.
"No police, or the horse dies.
To show that you accept, put an ad under Animals in all the Vienna papers, just saying 'Horse Heaven"'.
Missing persons None of them match.
Check all the other files too.
Come on, Rex.
If the stable was unlocked, we won't pay.
It was locked.
There was no sign of a break-in.
The stableboy has a key.
He's gone and so is the horse.
- Did you call the police? - Police? The letter said clearly "No police!" No we won't buy that.
I'll call them.
A horse doesn't just disappear.
Maybe there are witnesses.
What's the boy's name? Josef Swoboda.
- He was in the wrong stable.
- Pardon? The hairs and blood on his clothes are equine in origin, but the skin and blood under his nails is human.
It's type A Rh negative, but his blood type is B.
Could I have a piece of his clothing? Take this jumper.
A mutilated young man in a bull pen with horse blood on his jacket.
What do you reckon? Hi there.
Hi.
Interpol hasn't any new missing persons, just a missing horse.
- A horse? - Yes.
A kidnapping with a ten million ransom.
- For a horse? - One that's worth double that.
It'll be in Hungary by now.
A fax came from Budapest.
- A stableboy is the suspect.
- Where? The Latzki stud on Rohrhofweg.
The boys have been there but didn't find much.
That's in Simmering.
Rohrhofweg If you go to Hungary from there, what do you pass? Tell me.
Schampachhof, where our corpse was found.
Come on, Rex.
Let's have a look.
Come on, Venus.
Come! Stop! I'll show you! You dud! Is that mongrel yours? No insults, please.
His name is Rex.
What is this? Police.
Are you the owner here? No.
The boss is away.
- The police have already been.
- I know.
Brandtner, Homicide.
Homicide? - I want to see everyone here.
- There's only Swoboda.
He's gone.
So is Sirius.
We need a new stablehand.
- When did you last see them? - The horse when I locked up.
- And Mr Swoboda? - Just before Sirius disappeared.
Swoboda has his own key.
The stable lock was intact.
Do you know what Mr Swoboda was wearing? No idea.
- Ever seen this jumper? - No.
- Any news of the horse? - No.
The thing with Hungary was all planned.
There are hundreds of horses there.
You won't find it.
If you say so Here.
Here, Rex.
Search.
Here.
- Did Swoboda live up there? - Yes.
See to your horse.
What do you know That makes 360 schillings.
- Any news of Sirius? - I'm afraid not.
We keep hoping- Mrs Latzki? I'm Brandtner from the police.
How could such a thing happen? I'm not here about the theft.
I'm from Homicide.
What do you mean? Your stablehand was found murdered.
What? Swoboda is dead? Stein rang me to say he'd stolen the horse.
Never! Josef wouldn't have done that.
This is terrible.
I'm really sorry.
I just don't understand.
- May I ask where you've been? - Dubai.
My daughter was to compete in four shows.
But we'd just arrived and Stein rang.
Please come in.
Any idea who could have stolen the horse? - No.
Please sit down.
- Thanks.
- Where is Josef now? - In forensics.
- May I see him one last time? - Theresa Are you serious? - I'd like to see him if I may.
- Well I'll have to get permission.
Excuse me.
Hi, Leo.
It's Alex.
Can we come to see Swoboda? Please excuse us.
I'm exhausted after the trip.
Yes, of course.
If you like, you can see him.
I'm going, Mum.
See you later.
Goodbye.
You didn't tell me about Swoboda.
I'm talking to you! How could I over the phone? Here.
Read this.
- Something doesn't add up.
- Why? That was yesterday.
The staff loaded up Sirius themselves.
You're right.
- We must go to the police.
- Wait.
- I have to think this through.
- Pardon? - The horse is worth millions.
- So? - You think it's insurance fraud? - Sure.
If we have the proof Think of what we can do for animal welfare with that.
- You can't be serious.
- I am.
Like stopping the slaughter of baby seals.
We, the Sedlaceks from Vienna! I'll be right back.
This won't take long.
How long has Stein been with you? The two of them inherited the stud, but mismanaged it.
My mother bought it from them and kept Arthur on as trainer.
The two of them? Stein has a mentally handicapped brother.
He has a small farm near us.
How did Stein and Josef get along? Stein is the trainer, Josef the stablehand.
What are those scratches? They tried to make it look like an accident.
He was probably trying to stop Sirius getting hurt.
You lazy dog! It's because you're out of condition.
What's this? Am I meant to sweep the floor? I know what you want.
It's because of the horses.
Let's see how you go as a show jumper, old boy.
Go! Hey! Very good.
Let's see if you're champion material.
Move back.
Okay.
Go! Get back on the treadmill.
Yes, of course.
Goodbye.
Damn insurance guy.
- What's with him? - He won't pay.
"The horse was insured for this sum two years ago.
"The insurance will be paid "if through no fault of the owner the horse dies or is stolen.
" The vet did the annual inspection two days ago.
What's his name? Haslinger.
- Did he drill it? - No, just pulled it out.
- Are you okay? - Yes.
Sure? I've got an undercover job for you.
Exciting.
Latzki's stud needs a stableboy.
Can you go right away? All that dung - I can't do it.
They know me.
- What about BÃck? You know I'm scared of horses, Kunz.
How awful.
Here is some breeding data.
From one ejaculation by Sirius I get twenty tubes for artificial insemination.
Each one of these tubes is sold by the stud for at least 50,000 schillings.
Not to mention prize money.
This is from the insurance file.
Is it him? Yes.
That's unmistakably him.
Blazes on his forehead and pasterns.
- Any other markings? - No.
Just the usual ones.
Brands on the gaskins and a tattooed number on the neck.
The number is in here.
Your quarters are up there.
Excuse me.
This is the new stablehand.
He'll live up here.
- My name is Theresa.
- Richard Wagner.
- After the composer? - No.
After my father.
- Do you love horses? - Yes.
Good.
I'll get you fresh bed linen.
If you're cold, we have extra blankets.
Okay.
Now then First clean out stables one to four.
Muck out the stalls, then sweep and hose them down.
You have three hours.
You loaded up Sirius yourself.
Ten million or we'll dob you in.
- You're mad.
- No.
Hi, my name is Brandtner.
I'm from Homicide.
I saw you here the other day.
May I ask who you are? Johann Sedlacek.
That's my wife.
Hello.
- What are you doing here? - We're with animal welfare.
Did you know that trainers of high-performance animals frequently use illegal methods? No.
- Were you here two days ago? - Why? The stableboy was killed.
- No, we weren't.
- May I see your IDs? - Hi.
- Hello, Mr Brandtner.
Any news? No, but I need something with Sirius's scent on it.
I see.
Ask the stablehand to give you a blanket.
Thanks.
- How do you like the job? - Lots of country air.
Yes I just bumped into two animal welfare activists.
They seemed to be arguing with Stein just then.
Oh.
- Did you find anything here? - Nothing but shit.
Is that Sirius's blanket? Great.
- Homicide.
BÃck.
- Please run a name check.
- Johann and Anna Sedlacek.
- Okay.
They've been convicted of wilful property damage.
They destroyed a muskrat dike in Linz and the fences and cages of a mink farm in Burgenland.
Anything else? The Latzkis put in the "Horse Heaven" ad.
That's all.
Thanks, Christian.
See you later.
This one here.
Look.
- These two.
- I don't know.
Now that there's been a murder we should go to the police.
No, we won't! I'll get it.
- You? - I hope I'm not disturbing you.
I have a few questions about the stablehand's death.
His name was Josef Swoboda.
What about it? You must have been there several times taking photos.
If we knew anything, we'd have told you earlier.
Why do trainers do this? Horses are forced to jump over raised poles or electric wires or they're rubbed with caustic creams.
- To make them jump higher.
- It's like doping in sport.
Most do it relentlessly.
"Better dead than runner-up.
" - There must be exceptions.
- Very few.
What were you discussing with Stein? We urged him to stop the cruelty.
- Exactly.
- And so? He sent us away.
That's all.
In case you think of anything else.
- We can't go on with this.
- Yes, we can.
- Think why we're doing this.
- Why? To boost your ego.
- We can't cover up a murder.
- We're going through with it.
Count me out.
I've had it.
Okay You're out.
Okay.
Then you'll have to choose.
- I won't be part of it.
- Anna Hey.
I love you.
Then prove it.
They're almost full.
Sedlacek? They've been collected.
Wait.
Three enlargements are still here.
Thanks.
The other photos were picked up yesterday.
I need the photos as evidence.
Brandtner.
Hi, Fritz.
Hair dye? Yes.
Okay, got that.
Thanks.
Bye.
- BÃck.
Homicide.
- Hi, it's me.
Find out who owns the horse trailer, registration WU 71 RS.
- Hold on.
- Okay.
- It belongs to Gerhard Stein.
- I knew it.
If you ask me, this kidnapping reeks of insurance fraud.
Another fax.
Unsigned this time.
"We said no police.
We now want 15 million "Or we'll slaughter Sirius.
Horse Heaven 2.
" They want to slaughter Sirius? What kind of people are they? Homicide, please.
Homicide.
BÃck.
Thank you, Mrs Latzki.
We'll get the fax later.
Bye.
Hello.
Sedlacek.
- Could we see Mr Brandtner? - He's not here.
Can I help? Yes.
We'd like to make a statement.
I've had it.
Josef was a nice guy but what matters right now is us.
- He's dead.
- Precisely.
You can't make them live again.
We have other problems.
It cost a fortune to read and train Sirius.
Just as some money is coming in, the horse disappears.
I hope the insurance will pay.
What are you talking about? It will only pay if Sirius doesn't come back.
I was just considering the worst-case scenario.
I think you're horrid.
I want you to win the Olympics.
I've worked only for that.
Hi.
The Sedlaceks came to see me and got it off their chest.
They showed you this photo? They wanted to blackmail Stein.
I thought so.
Anything else? Another fax came an hour ago.
They now want 15 million.
He couldn't have sent it.
Accomplices? Possibly.
It's me, Fritz.
ls Stein there? - No.
He left at lunchtime.
- Thanks.
Be careful.
Come on.
Gerhard Stein? Yes.
What do you want? I didn't mean to scare you.
Brandtner and BÃck.
Homicide.
We're looking for a horse.
You collected a horse from the Latzki stud a few days ago.
- I do that regularly.
- Do you have horses? Yes One.
- In the stable? - Yes.
- Can we see it? - Yes.
Cheese.
Wrong lead.
Christian.
Look.
Shaven forehead and white paint spots.
Maybe it's Sirius in disguise.
Trust Rex.
This isn't Sirius.
Fritz found cans of white dye.
Why paint a horse? Why was this horse painted? I think he wants to get rid of us.
Let's do him the favour.
That was it.
We have to get Dr Haslinger to come.
I'll be right back.
Come here, Rex.
Dr Haslinger? This is Brandtner.
Anything? He seems confused.
He's bound to make a mistake.
He's in the stable.
He's coming out.
Shit! It's burning.
BÃck here.
There's a fire at Süssenbach 8.
Rex! Get out of here! Christian! Come on.
Hurry.
- Where's Stein? - In the house.
Let's go! What's he up to now? Mr Stein! - Mr Stein! - Alex, watch out! Yes? - Is Stein back? - Yes.
Ten minutes ago.
- No one is to leave the stud.
- Okay.
Have you gone mad, Stein? Letting people take photos.
I refuse to pay a ransom to crazy animal rights activists.
You'll have to or it will all blow up.
I'll tell you this.
If I'm busted, I'll take you with me.
It was all your idea.
You wanted to cash in on the insurance after killing Sirius.
Did I tell you to kill Swoboda? You've spoiled everything.
- You're to blame, Stein.
- It was an accident! Very well.
Negotiate with those animal rights people.
Give them two million.
Five at the most.
I'll ring them now.
If they don't accept, I'll get the photos some other way.
Did you find something, Rex? I don't like admitting it, but I've been duped.
Don't worry.
It happens.
The horse has Sirius' branded number, but the six of SolitÃr has been turned into an eight.
If this is SolitÃr, where is Sirius? Alex! Come over here.
Excuse me.
That's lime to stop the bad smell.
- Try again.
- No answer.
- Just try again.
- I swear they'll regret this.
Get a hold of yourself.
You can't lose your nerve now.
How did Sirius die? I want to know! It was Stein.
He raised the poles.
Sirius fell and broke his leg.
You knew and said nothing.
You lied to me.
And Josef? Why did he kill Josef? Theresa Listen to me.
Listen carefully.
We're in a very tricky situation.
- I don't - I'm going to the police.
Theresa! Be reasonable.
Don't you dare touch my daughter! You want to land us both in jail? Damn it, Theresa! Stop.
I'll get you! Help me! He's armed.
Leave me alone.
- Please.
- Not a word to the police.
- Fritz! - Yes.
- Are you okay? - Yes.
Stein is in the stable.
He's got Theresa at gunpoint.
There's a way through the attic.
Not a word to the police, or else I'll kill you.
Stein! - Any closer and I'll shoot.
- Come on, Rex.
- Haven't you done enough? - Clear out.
Be reasonable.
Stein! Let Theresa go.
- You don't stand a chance.
- Clear out, I said! Clear out! Don't touch that gun! Take me with you to the city.
- I can't stay here.
- Theresa
Previous EpisodeNext Episode