In The Fade

Katja is married to Nuri Sekerci, a Kurdish man with whom she has a 5-year-old son. They live in Hamburg. She met Nuri when she bought hashish from him when she was a student. She married him when he was still in prison, despite both his parents and hers being opposed to the marriage. Since the birth of their son Rocco, Nuri has quit drug trafficking, studied business administration while in jail, and now works in Hamburg at a translation and tax office.

She drops their son off at her husband’s office in the afternoon. When Katja returns for him in the evening, she finds the road blocked. A policeman tells her that a man and a child have been killed in a nail bomb attack. DNA analysis confirms that the victims are her husband and son. Shortly before the attack, Katja saw a young blonde woman at the scene, and noticed that she did not chain her bike to the railings, although the bike looked new. The bike basket contained a black parcel.

She tells the police what she saw, but their investigation initially focuses on revenge from drug traffickers. Katja suspects that her husband’s Kurdish background might have something to do with the attack. However, police arrest two suspects, André and Edda Möller, a young neo-Nazi couple with international connections, and the prosecution charges them with double murder, based on allegedly watertight evidence.

At the later court hearing, a scientific expert describes all the horrific details of the bomb attack. Assisting Katja is attorney Danilo Fava. She also meets André Möller’s father, who does not despair at the act of his son and invites her to coffee and cake. Her son’s drawings and the small plastic anchor of his pirate ship in the bath remind Katja of Rocco and Nuri; she is so despairing that she sees no reason to continue living. But then Katja decides she wants justice and revenge.