Das Geheimnis des Totenwaldes - Season 1

In the summer of 1989, the sister of the Hamburg LKA boss Thomas Bethge disappeared without a trace from her house in Weesenburg. Two terrible double murders had recently occurred in a nearby forest. The Lower Saxony police seem overwhelmed. Only the young inspector Anne Bach, who recognizes her mentor in Thomas Bethge, believes that the crimes are connected.

LKA boss Bethge promises his worried mother that he will find his sister, who has disappeared without a trace. But the police in Weesenburg defend themselves against his alleged attempts to interfere and point out to the Hamburg police officer that he is not responsible. Instead, the Lower Saxony police officers initially suspect an act of revenge against the high-ranking Hamburg police officer and ultimately suspect Thomas Bethge's brother-in-law.

There is still no trace of Barbara Neder. Her family is desperate and starts a search message on a TV show - without success. Thomas Bethge's mother attempts suicide. Theresa Neder - the daughter of the disappeared - is heavily burdened by suspicions against her father. After the young police officer Anne Bach has studied all the files again, everything points to the cemetery gardener Jürgen Becker. He gave the police a false alibi without being asked and was one of the last people seen at Barbara Neder's side.

Anne Bach convinces the public prosecutor's office to agree to a search of the cemetery gardener Jürgen Becker's house. In the house there are weapons, handcuffs and other paraphernalia used to hold people captive. In the garden - in front of Thomas Bethge - the police dig up a buried car and the corpse-sniffing dogs arrive. But there is no trace of Barbara Neder. Jürgen Becker finds out about the police operation in his house and flees across Germany until an accident stops him.

Together with a private team of investigators, the so-called core team, Bethge reopens his sister's case after his retirement, obtains all the files and manages to get into Becker's "secret" room again. There, even many years later, there were overlooked indications of a serious suspicion. Did his sister fall victim to a mysterious serial killer?

A new witness describes Jürgen Becker as a sadistic and unscrupulous seducer who tried to get money in every conceivable way. Anne Bach, together with Thomas Bethge, creates the image of a psychopathic serial killer who, since childhood, has tried to satisfy his experiences of powerlessness on his victims. Thomas Bethge once again looks at Jürgen Becker's farewell letters in search of the secret of his missing sister.