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Roller Coaster Rides in Berlin
Which Berlin do we find ourselves in when we read about Art and Nele?
It is a very modern Berlin with all the problems and shortcomings that a metropolis brings with it – traffic and crime, high life and housing estates, many authorities with too many fragmented responsibilities always in competition for budget and success, too many decision-makers with dirt on their hands, too much past, radical climate activists and right-wing extremists, self-appointed fighters for law-and-order and left-wing extremists, too much noise, too much dirt …
In the middle of it all is the political centre, headed by the Federal Chancellor, who appears to be more heavily involved in criminal activities than one would think, even if they took place years or even decades ago. But it is precisely these cases that suddenly tend to come to light again, especially when new entanglements arise.
Everything is political in Berlin, including the police with their various agencies and the secret services – and of course the public prosecutor’s office and courts. Over the last few decades, networks have been established in Berlin that are skilfully used when someone has something to hide and wants to make a career or protect his position. It seems to be an impenetrable tangle of relationships and favours that are used to get a grip on current threats. Of course, these are threats that affect individual, more or less high-ranking personalities with more or less room for manoeuvre – basically private matters.
We find Art Meyer and Nele Tschaikowski in the middle of it all. Both work for the BKA (Bundeskriminalamt – German Federal office of Criminal Investigation) in Berlin.
Art Meyer has taken some time out because he was having increasing problems with convicted criminals being released with the help of clever lawyers, with sloppy police work destroying evidence, with public prosecutors refraining from bringing charges because … Besides, his marriage was on the rocks. His wife had cheated on him, with the police commissioner of all people, whom Art had unceremoniously punched.
In the meantime, Art lives in a small flat that is only furnished in a makeshift manner and sleeps on a mattress on the floor. On the side, he tries to find out why and where his neighbour, who worked in a strip club, has disappeared to. Her young daughter has unceremoniously chosen him as her surrogate father … which leads to special complications.
Then there is a mysterious and complicated murder case and Art is reactivated by his superior with the promise that the BKA wants to support him in the search for the missing neighbour and has new information. Behind this is … the Federal Chancellor, who requests Art for a very special investigation in this context. Art has no choice but to accept, as he and the Chancellor share memories from their youth.
Art is given an assistant, Nele Tschaikowski, a trainee detective, who he is not fond of at first, but the two quickly become a good team. Both like unorthodox approaches while investigating. Nele is also the niece of the police commissioner with whom Art had a run-in. So much for the cross-relationships in the police force.
Nele has a partner and realises that she is pregnant. Her boyfriend wants to move to the countryside with her, away from the big city and take over his father’s sawmill. Nele is supposed to support him – and of course quit her job with the criminal investigation department, which is the purest horror story for Nele. She therefore throws herself headlong into investigating this mysterious case with more and more murder victims in order to live out her dream.
In the end, Art and Nele manage to solve the case, even though powerful people are involved in the crime. Nele almost becomes a victim herself and has to come to terms with the fact that she has visions of dark rooms, small spaces … It continues quite quickly. A few months later, the next case awaits Art and Nele, this time once again taking them to Germany’s political power centre in Berlin.
Nele doesn’t give up and tries to combine her private life and her baby with her job. Her partner is not so keen on this. Art is confronted with other family problems … Eventually they both start working on the case of the missing neighbour and stir up a can of worms. Past actions involving police units and secret services lead to current murders – and the services, the former employees, do everything they can to protect their careers.
Art and Nele’s cases are brutal, intricate and always stir up dust in the metropolis of Berlin. There is hardly anyone who plays with open cards. The networks within the power apparatus in Berlin are a means to an end and long-lasting, even if Art and Nele endeavour to bring light into the darkness.