This is easily one of the best, most touching stories in the Derrick series. The episode revolves around Alfred Pricker, an older, small-time swindler who escapes from a prison transport bus during an ambush intended to free a big-time crook, Mr Hamann. However, Hamann ended up not being on the transport and the gangsters are in disarray at this discovery, as they have killed the two guards. In the confusion, Pricker manages to get away. It is immediately clear to Derrick that to solve the murder and to find Pricker, he has to smoke out Hamann's accomplices.
In the meantime, Alfred Pricker, on the run from the police and from the gangsters who want to silence him as a witness, ends up finding an unexpected oasis of human warmth with a widowed lady and her young adult daughter. Weary as he is from a life of deception and hypocrisy, the two women bring out the best in him and it turns out that he is able to provide a balm of care to their broken hearts as well.
The balance between the hard-nosed police work, tracing a group of ruthless killers, and the quiet scenes of domestic bliss as Pricker and the women rediscover how to enjoy life, is excellent, setting in stark relief the dramatic conclusion of the case.
In the meantime, Alfred Pricker, on the run from the police and from the gangsters who want to silence him as a witness, ends up finding an unexpected oasis of human warmth with a widowed lady and her young adult daughter. Weary as he is from a life of deception and hypocrisy, the two women bring out the best in him and it turns out that he is able to provide a balm of care to their broken hearts as well.
The balance between the hard-nosed police work, tracing a group of ruthless killers, and the quiet scenes of domestic bliss as Pricker and the women rediscover how to enjoy life, is excellent, setting in stark relief the dramatic conclusion of the case.
