"Back then I still liked to look at myself in the mirror." "Driving home from the day shift, I looked in the mirror and thought." ""So this is the person who will join my husband and my daughter for dinner."" "Shortly after the Wall fell, my husband rented an apartment for us in East Germany, big and cheap." "Nina was 8 and needed her own room." "When I entered the apartment, no one was there." "There was a half-eaten plate of spaghetti in the kitchen, and the fridge was full." "He'd been shopping." "He wanted to make us something to eat." "Nina had talked to her father at lunchtime, she said." "He must have been at home then." "Something must have happened sometime between noon and evening." "I opened the mail:" "bills, the Internal Revenue Service." "nothing dramatic." "Then I warmed up the half-eaten spaghetti in the microwave." "That was 16 years ago." "I haven't seen my husband since." "Actually ... no." "That's not quite right." "They're selling the Starka Wodka again," "Really?" "Great." "On the balcony?" "No, I have to make dinner." "My daughter's coming." " You have a daughter?" "A small drink." " No," "Where were you?" "We were leaving." " Sorry. I had to go shopping, but they stole all the stuff," "The letter was at the door, Mom." "From the Houseowner," " Yeah," "You gotta move out, or they'Il clear the place." " No, no," "They're all still ..." "The guys upstairs are still ..." "The old woman ..." " She moved out years ago." "No!" "Sorry, but ..." " They're all gone, I hear them every night." "I live in this house." "Yeah, it's okay," "Mom, look." "This is Sven." "This is for you." "I'm glad we finally got to meet each other." "You're the first guy she ever introduced me to, You can be proud," "But you want to get married, don't you?" "That's why you're here, You want to get married." "That's the point, right?" "Yeah, first of all, come ... ls pizza okay?" "How long have you known each other?" "5 years." "What?" "!" " 5 years!" " No!" "You came to see me during that time, didn't you?" "Or has it been longer?" "I hope you'Il come to our wedding." "Of course, I will." "If Nina wants me to." "I don't know who else will be coming." "Excuse me a moment." "I gotta go," "After my husband disappeared Nina and I became bosom buddies." "The first few weeks I did everything possible to find him." "Nina ran through town hanging up fliers." "That was her job." "We travelled for a while, pursuing clues, meeting friends and family." "... but suddenly one day Nina changed   she became different, aloof   I thought it was adolescence, making her hide things from her mother." "... I had no idea." "It's never the way you think it is." "I should know." "I'm a cop." "Christopher Colbjörnsen, mother:" "German, father:" "Danish." "You grew up in Denmark?" "And you came to Germany with your mother after your parents' divorce." "You came to Germany 6 months ago with a Vietnamese girl." "Last night you intentionally crashed into a truck," "There's a dead man in your apartment, and the girl's gone," "You see, I killed him intentionally, 'cause I wanted him dead." "And the girl?" " She ran away." "I ran after her, but she got away, - l somehow don't believe you." "I don't care." "If this girl ..." "Jenjira, right?" "Yes." " If she ran away, why don't you want us to find her?" "I don't care." "And I won't say anything more, Inspector, I won't say anything at all," "How old is she?" "7 years old." " l don't believe you. I bet she's 10 or 11." " She says she makes yam yam but not bum bum." "Who cares, as long as we find new parents." "They want 20,OOO for the girl," "We don't have that much." "We'll have to call the whole thing off." "I'll get the money," "Okay, and when?" " In Denmark, From my father." "This time you have to pretend to be her father and take her to Germany," "Mom?" "Hello, Mom?" "I brought someone with me," "is this Mr. Colbjörnsen's office?" "Yes ...?" "I want to see him, I have an appointment." "And you are ...?" "I'm the son." "This is my daughter." "Yes." "He's expecting you on the squash court." "That's in the back, on the right." "I know where it is," "Would you like some juice maybe?" "She only speaks Vietnamese." "Okay, then ask her if she'd like a drink." "I can't. I don't speak any Vietnamese." "Frederick, let's take a break," "Come and play with me," "Come." "Here!" "Come play!" "Father, this is Jeniira." "What do you want?" "25,OOO euros," "What for?" "We buy girls like her from their pimps." "Who is "we"?" "Holger und me." "You met him 20 years ago." "Remember?" "You do what?" "We liberate kids from their pimps and sell them to adoptive parents in Europe," "You're crazy." "How often have you done it?" "5 times." "You've bought 5 kids and sold them?" "There are people who want children and can't get them legally." "You're crazy." "You always were, I know it's hard for you to imagine that a couple wants to have kids." "Bullshit!" "That's just bullshit!" "I can't help you." "You can't do this to me!" "I have my problems," "They're buying everything. I need every cent." "Sory." "Would you help me if you had money?" "There's no difference. "lf I had it" ..." "Father, would you give me the money?" "There are things you shouldn't mess with." "And if you do, things just get worse," "This whole thing is too much for you." "You, of all people, should stay clear of it." "Mom's doing fine," "There's someone else in her life again, I think she's happy for the first time ever." "The Lorenzes cancelled." "They want a little black girl now instead of a yellow one." "They got in touch with me in Berlin." "They want their money back, and we're broke, So?" "So what?" "We have to return the girl." "You have to give her to me." "It's clear, They want the goods or the money." "You can't decide this on your own." "What should I tell them?" "What should I do?" "Find some parents." " That takes time!" "Chris, they know where you live," "Well?" "I'm doing all I can, but he won't talk." "Maggie, you sit around, reading the paper, but you can't do that," "You have no idea what I can do." "Your mind's too weak to imagine it." "I fucked up." "I mean, I really fucked up." "Shouldn't I have told you about it in the car?" "How long do I have to pay for it before you hurt yourself?" "Until you shoot yourself in the head," "Let's go out for breakfast." "Grandma is sick." "16 euros and 7 cents, please." "You have to pay." "I don't have the money." "So it's no good, 'cause I don't have the money." "No problem." "We'll go to your place." "We'll find the money." "How's it going?" " Fine." "What do you want?" "You can't scare me." "You're crazy!" "We'Il be back!" "How is she doing?" "She's alright." "She had a nightmare," "Mom, I .,." "I need your help." "It is ..." " Do you remember Kathrin Johannson?" "A girl from your school, nine years old." "You were sixteen," "One day, the Principal requested your dad and I come to his office," "Kathrin's parents were already there." "And they told us that for six months you had been harrassing their daughter." "During recess, after school, in gym class." "They were just short of calling the police." "You said that the little girl had said something to you on the school yard and that you couldn't let her get away with it." "Your dad didn't understand," "He said, "A nine-year-old girl, what could she possibly have done to a sixteen-year-old boy?"" "That was a mystery." "To him," "Not to me." "I knew what she had done to you." "I don't know Kathrin Johannson." "Christopher." "Christopher!" "You'Il have to give little Jeniira away." "Maggie, we gotta pressure Colbjörnssen even more." "We don't know what will happen to the girl." "Now I know you're lying, like always," " Why?" ""Maggie, we got to find the girl!" You said my name first." "You don't care about the girl, do you?" "Are you telling me what I care about and what not?" "YOU are trying to tell me that?" "!" "What I care about and what I don't care about?" "Are you trying to tell me that?" "Since when are you so pissed at Roland the jerk." "None of your business, I won't allow a murderer to have more rights than a girl!" "Incredible!" "It isn't a matter of apologizing ..." " Listen." "He's been silent for 3 days." "He hasn't eaten anything," "Not out of love!" "You're mixing up the crime and the criminal," "is he destroying himself or someone else." "That's the problem." "Hello, That's the problem." "Listen." "We know each other." "From before all this shit!" "Remember?" "It was pouring." "You were at the police station." "You reported a missing person." "I remember your very words." "We met in the entrance, and you said," ""lt's pointless, I'll never see her again," You said it," "We have to get out!" "Wait a second," "Stay here." "It's pointless." "She's gone, I'll never see her again, Never again." "Do you remember me?" "I shouldn't have let you go, Roland!" "Get out!" "Get out!" "I saw how you react when Jenjira runs away." "Jeniira was the girl you reported missing!" "Right?" "Yes, of course, she is." "If she had just run away, you wouldn't be sitting here silent." "So what happened?" "Something happened." "What?" "I ... killed a man, - l don't give a shit," "No, something happened between you and Jenjira." "What?" "How long have I been here?" "3 or 4 days." "Almost four." "Why?" "Why?" " Not long enough yet." "Come on." "Come on, please," "I went to HoIger." "And he took me back to the train station ... I bet they take her back to Vietnam." "No bullshit!" "They don't want Jeniira." "They want the money." "Child sex." "There's more money in it than in the international arms trade." "I'll buy you something to eat, or a milkshake," "Maybe another flavour?" "Does she belong to you?" "She was all alone at the train station." "So I took care of her." "I hope that wasn't a mistake." " No, No problem," "We'll stay here, I promise you." "Do you understand me?" "Are we still friends?" "This is a friend's apartment." "She's in India at the moment, lf you empty the mailbox now and then, you can use her car, if you like." "It's a bit improvized." "But you could fix it up nice." "Thanks. I'm ... I'm really glad you exist." "Things are looking good. I'Il probably have adoptive parents in a few days." "I'll check if there's anything in the kitchen." "Evenings are nice, mornings are shit." "But evenings are nice again." "I was thinking." "We should move in together." "Yes, I was thinking." "Scrambled eggs?" "Yes, lovely, - l'm afraid I'm out of eggs," "Then I can get some." "Really?" "Yeah. I'll hurry." "No, I don't get it." "If you keep this up, we'Il have to give you an IV." "Force-feed you through the nose," "But apparently you enjoy sumering," " We all die sometime." "They say we shouldn't give up hope, but hope is what kills us." "We hope and wait and wait and hope," "And while we're waiting, real life passes us by," "Other actions determine our reality." "Living without hope, believing in life and its possibilities, entering the realm of reality" "where we can see life from an unsentimental perspective," "thinking the unthinkable, living without fear, even if there are no promises of fulfillment," "loving without expectations and rewards ..." "That would be an act of human beauty and dignity." "I'm Ms. Teichmann." " l'm glad you could come." " Hello." "Yes, that is little Jenjira." "Shall we go over there?" "I haven't told her anything yet." "You have to get acquainted first." "We don't want to raise false hopes." "Hello, Jeniira." "I'm Frauke, and this is Johannes," "Here's a present for you," "Won't she open it?" " Not until you're gone." "That's how they do it in Asia." "I have to talk to you." "I'll be right back," "Chris, what's wrong?" "What's wrong?" " Listen." "They aren't the right people." "What do you mean?" "They're perfect." "Perfect?" "They're middle-class creeps who want to take Jenjira and stick her in the noble living room like an Asian figurine." "What would you prefer?" "To have her grow up in a hippie trailer camp?" " Yes." "Bullshit!" "You don't want to give her away!" "You want to keep her, but you can't," "Oh yeah?" "Why not?" "The Mafia would knock our heads off," "Anyway, you wouldn't be able to cope with a child like that." "What do you mean by "child like that"?" "What bullshit is that?" "She's fucked up." "Totally." "She may look cute, but she's a whore." "She sucks cocks." " Just 'cause you got a fucking problem with your fucking around, don't take out your problems on me!" " She twists men around her finger." "Shut the fuck up!" " She's a pro!" "Terrific!" "Fabulous!" "Damn it!" "Don't give me that!" "And you!" "?" "What do you want?" "But there's gonna be no alcohol tonight." "Well, I liked it ..." "How was your day?" "I'm questioning a man who is probably hiding a 1O-year-old girl." "We don't know if he did anything to her and if she's still alive." "That doesn't ... sound good," "But the real problem is:" "I don't care about the girl, or what happens to her, or anything." "I don't care about any of that." "I don't believe you." "Nobody wants to believe it, I don't even want to believe it," "But it was worth the try." "Well, I liked it." "When did you stick your finger in the girl's pussy the first time?" "I never did that." "How many days?" "What are you waiting for?" "She's out there somewhere!" "Running away!" "From whom?" "I don't get it!" "Why don't you help me, so I can help her?" "Huh?" "Why did you cry?" "On the day we saw each other for the first time?" "When it was pouring." "The day it was pouring." "It's none of your business." "But I can tell you about the first time I drank a whole bottle of cognac." "7 years after my husband disappeared, things had almost become normal." "My daughter had allegedly gone to see a girlfriend." "And then I got my menstruation sooner than expected and had to buy tampons in a strange neighbourhood." "Yes, it was that trivial." "And there he was." "My husband." "Just like that. 7 years later." "He had changed." "He looked like somebody else's husband." "But he was obviously still Nina's father." "And Nina was obviously still his daughter." "But they'd scratched me out of their story." "As if I were dead." "And I thought, "Maybe I am dead." "Maybe I just haven't noticed yet."" "Can anyboby see me?" "Get lost!" "Pack your stum and get out!" "At once!" "Reality is an illusion created by a lack of alcohol." "Somebody who knew what he was talking about once told me that," "Anyway ..." "all I can think of in the end is:" "you have to keep trying." "What?" "Everything," "Do you think that you did everything possible for Jenjira?" "I ... love ... you." "And I .,." "love you, too." "Teeth brushing, bed going." "Good night." "Bride and groom, you are not alone at this decisive moment," "God is with you." "He is the God of your life and your love," "He sanctifies your love as a lifelong covenant." "I now ask you to publicly declare your vow to live a Christian marriage." "Nina, I ask you ..." "Will you love your husband and be faithful to him for the rest of his life?" "Yes." "What's wrong, Mom?" "Why didn't you tell me?" "What did I ever do to you?" "Since when ... did you know?" "From the beginning?" "Why did he leave?" "Were you in touch with him the whole time?" "Sorry." "He suddenly showed up a few years later." "He told me ... that I'd never see him again if I told you." "And me?" "What about me?" "Did he tell you why he left?" "Why didn't you ask him?" "Why didn't you ask?" "I wish I'd never been born." "We went back to the house, Holger, Jenjira and me." "Sorry, no more stories about how lovely everything was." "I've had enough of that." "I can't take this crap anymore!" "Not at all!" "Get lost!" "There's the door." "Freedom is waiting." "Fucking asshole." "What am I to you, heh?" "We went back to ... the house on the lake." "Give her away." "Give her away." "I'm through with you!" "I'm through with you!" "What is it?" "It isn't right!" "It's fucking wrong!" "Good evening." "I'm glad I finally got to meet you." "The Youth Welfare officer came by, but you weren't in." "I need your help to keep them quiet." "But a man like you with a little girl ..." "People start talking." " Help?" "The talk doesn't bother me, but you could help me out a bit." " You want money?" "120 euros a month." "To start out with, It's enough." "We don't want any trouble, do we?" "Leave me alone!" "What are you doing here?" "Where's my colleague?" "Come on!" "Come on!" "Come on!" "Sit down over here." "Maggie, would you come outside with me?" "Come out, please!" "Hey, are you crazy?" "What's going on?" "I'm your partner!" "I can't afford to lose my job right now!" "What's going on?" "Do you believe in God?" "Maggie, you're crazy." "I'll ask them to take the case away from you." " Good idea," "Why did you cry on the day when it rained so much?" "He must have been planning it for years." "And when the time came, he had to do it at once, I said, "How about going somewhere else or waiting for better weather?"" "But no, it had to happen at once." "I didn't understand what he meant." "Well, he was afraid, of course   that it would take him years for another attempt." "And so he got down to business right away," "The day your husband disappeared he came to see me and talk to me about ..." "our affair." "You remember we had an affair?" "You remember we had sex, don't you?" "That was 15 years ago." "We were on patrol." "Then we went to a bar and then to my place or to a nearby hotel." "He went to see you?" "What did he say?" "It's clear you want to talk about him, but excuse me ..." "Let me tell you the whole story." " What did he say?" "You're right." "Sorry." "Okay, you're right." "Tell me the whole story." "Sorry." "You still treat me like a little boy, I'll try to keep it brief, He came to see me, because he knew about us." "He said he can't take it, but that's life." "He can't fight it," "Those were his very words:" ""That's life."" "He said he'd go away." "He gave me a number and asked me to call when the affair was over." "Until then he would go away." "I could say I tried to talk to you, but it isn't true." "You didn't give me a chance." "You completely ignored me," "You know, we never talked about the end of our relationship." "Not even a sad look in the canteen ... a look that said:" "It's terrible, but it won't work." "It was as if we'd never had a relationship." "Yes, but ..." " What?" "Yes, but we only ... screwed a few times." "Women!" "You only want our bodies." " No, I'm sorry ... I'm sorry, but we both knew back then that ... I can't remember exactly." " Be quiet!" "Please!" "It's fucked up enough without your memory gaps." "I understood you." "I thought our feelings were strong enough to get us out of that situation." "Would maybe even strengthen our feelings." "Sometimes ... a crisis just makes you horny." "And then it turns into dirty, horny sex." "But no!" "Nothing, I lost you." "A bit more every day." "Where is he?" "After you stopped noticing me a few months later I frequently picked up the contact number." "I thought about calling your husband to tell him it was over between us." "But the longer I waited, the more difficult it became." "And gradually I could see it in your eyes that we never really had a story." "It was embarrassing to call him months later." "I imagined how you'd talk and laugh about that total idiot who thought there had been real feelings between us." "And you were always on vacation, looking for him everywhere." "I hoped you'd find him, and everything would be fine," "But I honestly hoped that sometime you'd stand in front of my door and ring the bell." "It would be pouring outside." "And you'd say you needed me and you'd made a mistake and you really only loved me." "Where is he?" "After a few months, I ... I called him." "He answered at once, I told him we were madly in love and it was wise of him to make way for us and I hoped he'd never come back." "What did you tell him?" "That we were incredibly happy, I asked where he was, but he sounded far away." "I asked if he was waiting for you, but he'd already hung up," "You didn't say that," " Yes, I did." "I told him," " No, you didn't." " Yes, I did, I never called again." "He didn't either." "I tried to call once, but it was somebody else's number," "It's pointless." "She's gone, I'll never see her again," "Never again," "I have to go now." "Take care," "Open up!" "Open the door, Maggie!" "Open the door, Maggie!" "A doctor!" "We need a doctor!" "Jörg?" "Maggie ... I gotta go back again," "Listen, dear, Don't you want to move in?" "I like to have someone lying there when I crawl into bed," "But only under one condition," "What's that?" "Never again "no alcohol,"" "He had a renal colic," "We brought him here." "He has an IV," "He'Il talk. I'm sure ofthat." "You don't look so good." "Go home!" "I'm gonna finish this now." "Shouldn't I have told you that in the car?" "Would that have been better?" "If you hadn't known why he lefl and never came back?" "I believe it doesn't matter," "Certain things happen which we can't forgive." "Not me." "Not you." "And not my husband." "Borders have been crossed, and we fell into an abyss." "We can't just ... crawl out of it," "Human beings only have a certain amount of strength, One day they run out." "I still love you like I did, I can't help myself." "I'm sorry, Roland, but I don't think you know what you're saying." "Go home," "It's over, Roland." "Talk to me." "Come on." "Talk to me," "It will stay that way," "Hello, Mr. Colbjörnsen," "My name is Tröstrum." "Youth Welfare." "Did you get my letter?" "A letter, yes, I'd like to talk to you and your daughter," "Come on in." "Like some coffee?" " Yes, please." "Leave her alone!" " What are you doing, you idiot?" "Then where did you go?" "How many days?" "Too many." "It's been too long." "Do you know where she is?" "Where?" "Then you'Il never see me again." "Can you see me?" "What's your name?"