The Death of a Talented Shoemaker

A local shoemaker, Boleslav Rambousek – a naive painter and woodcarver – is murdered with an axe one night in the château park in Opolná. A couple of lovers – the married physician Hauser and the château guide Olga – are hiding in a niche under the stairs and hear somebody entering Rambousek's flat. They, however, fail to notice that someone also took a tablecloth, drying on a balustrade. The same night, the elegant police captain, Michal Exner, arrives in Opolná by coincidence to spend his holiday in the village. He barely manages to get acquainted with the second guide, Lída, in the park, and his holiday is over. He is entrusted to investigate the case, with the colleagues Beránek and Vlček. Lieutenant Šlajner from the local police station is well familiar with the village conditions. Rambousek used to be a big provocateur and made many people angry. But art historian Medek revealed his enormous artistic talents and rendered him famous. The shoemaker's works sold well and he turned into a very wealthy man. Lída, who started a love affair with Exner, is one of the few who had no personal disputes with the shoemaker. After the murder, someone destroyed all the paintings in his flat. The police search along the only road where the culprit could have got rid of his blood-stained clothes. Exner fishes out a package covered in the stolen tablecloth from the château pond. He then easily convicts the local academic painter Matějka, consumed by his jealousy of the successful amateur who, true, had no art education – but had great talent. Exner quickly parts with Lída; he is summoned to the next investigation.