A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES
Piss off, Elsie.
PERFUME
THE THIRD SUBSTANCE
It's easy to discover a scent you love.
A rose petal,
the hair of a child,
forest soil in summer...
But it is difficult to separate that scent from the surrounding matter.
It can't be elicited.
It can't be released by force.
Perfumers use alcohol to extract the waxy fragrance from the body.
Benzene, then, separates the scent from the wax.
A separation cannot be executed between just two things.
A third substance is necessary.
In all probability, this is young Merten Brodmann.
Stabbed to death.
No professional tool. Could have been a kitchen knife.
On Katharina Läufer, it was a fishing line.
Botched cuts,
no comparison to the professional cuts on Katharina Läufer.
Execution about the same as on the dog.
Well, Roman, would you have a beer to spare for me?
Hey.
Is he your new favorite?
Because of this victim shit?
Hey.
- The nighttime business is killing me. - What?
You call that shaved?
My patience as a mentor is limited.
Either you put in some effort or we're done.
Hey.
If you behave, you're my best girl.
I'll only give you day shifts.
- Okay. - Okay?
Good girl.
PUBLIC AGAINST BROTHEL OWNER BUTSCHE
Elsie!
Let me go!
That's impossible.
I did exactly what you put on the cheat sheet.
The principal will see you now.
Okay. Thank you.
- The tissue you gave to the principal... - Yes?
Genetic testing has shown a match with sperm samples
on Katharina Läufer's mattress.
It hasn't even been a week.
The same method as on Katharina Läufer.
Does Grünberg know yet?
I'll call him.
Also, the police caught several people using their cell phones.
Police have announced they will continue their operation nationwide.
Elena, I...
I need help.
- Leave me alone. - From a proper mother.
Go away, Butsche.
What's wrong with you? I have a little girl here!
- It has transpired from within... - Fuck!
...police circles that there might be a connection
- between the murder of Katharina Läufer... - No! Leave me alone!
...and today's victim. Apparently, the hideous crime
is mirrored in the injuries, a leading investigator said.
Come with me!
Come on!
No!
Over here.
Elena, please!
Hold her down.
Open your mouth. Come on, open up.
Thank you.
Okay. Swallow that.
Hello.
Could the two of you leave for a minute? Thank you.
Don't worry. I'll take care of it.
Take care of what?
Well...
the abortion.
What is the difference between my child and her kids?
I'll be paying child support if you want to keep it.
Great.
Don't play the victim here.
And forget about the "pill fail" fairy tale.
Like I said, I...
I'll support you financially, of course.
I'm just asking you not to broadcast it.
No one can know.
You catch the scent with a cloth soaked in grease
that you wrap around the body.
A side effect is that, later, the skin is as soft as after a rejuvenating cure.
- And the other women have done that? - Of course.
It's not for me.
I have enough problems with the jeté battu. That's enough.
Side effect number two:
I can create a perfume for your body odor that suits you perfectly.
- My audience only cares about how I move. - I agree.
Why does a lady make herself beautiful?
Why does she put on jewelry and nice clothes?
For her audience.
- And also for love. - Yeah.
Everybody wants to be loved.
Everyone.
Are those olives in the risotto?
Would you like some?
No.
No, thanks.
I'll be honest with you.
Your scent fascinates me.
I want it.
And I'll offer you something in return.
A perfume to reduce your appetite when you're wearing it.
Skatole, indole and a few other substances under your nose and it should go away.
Just like that. Simple.
And you'e not a Jack the Ripper or something?
Would Jack the Ripper hand you his business card?
I'll even show you my ID card and you can text my name to a friend.
Well?
We need to call the police.
But hurry. Roman will be here soon.
Elsie?
Sit up, Elsie.
I'll move in with Butsche.
I doubt that.
He likes me.
Did he hurt you?
"Like."
Never heard of that?
Thomas Butsche is dangerous, Elsie.
A girl like you shouldn't be alone with him, okay?
He's super nice.
No.
They're sending someone.
Good.
I want pizza and cola.
Frutti di mare?
The one from Pizza-Kater.
- It's the best. - It's the best.
Ms. Perlmann is a prostitute. She likes a saucy life otherwise, too.
Did you see someone yesterday?
Seen and heard.
The door squeaks, but the lady doesn't want to oil it.
I can hear exactly when Ms. Perlmann has her visitors.
Or returns home.
Last night, the door squeaked around 10:30 p.m.
And then again 15 minutes past midnight.
Someone was with Ms. Perlmann between 10:30 p.m. and 12:15 a.m.
And before then, a man asked for her, in the evening.
He didn't know where to go.
The lady doesn't need a door plate.
He actually looked rather decent.
Nice teeth, no tattoos. He even brought flowers.
Yes. A decent young man.
It's the best pizza in the world.
The one with the cat.
Let's check who's there, Magda.
Come on.
I want to stay with you.
In the brothel or what?
I'll even turn tricks for you.
An orphanage is better than your home.
But the children there are awful.
I'll come visit you.
Let's go. Come on.
No need to visit, asshole.
I'll take your backpack.
Get in the car.
Now get lost, Butsche.
So, I'm dangerous?
Elena, wait. Hey.
Back then, I thought you were already a woman.
Strange times.
Back then, I even thought I'd become a saint.
Exactly which part of "leave my wife alone" did you not get?
Have a nice day.
Please don't, Roman.
Stop it!
Shit!
That's enough.
Magda, Mommy just fell, okay?
Sit down.
Is that why you took Butsche's watch?
Because he said you can defeat anybody with it?
I'll hit Daddy whenever he hits you.
Mommy promises you everything will be fine. Okay?
I'll make everything all right, I promise.
Come here. Come. Let's go upstairs.
Carl, this is Roman.
The pimp you're writing about...
who's planning the new brothel at the train station...
Thomas Butsche, yeah.
I have some interesting info about him.
No, no. Info from the past of the great pimp.
I run a Catholic boarding school.
I'm married, three children.
So somebody else put your sperm on Katharina Läufer's mattress, right?
It can be verified.
It can also be verified whether you're the boy's father.
She stood there near the stage.
She was laughing at me.
She was laughing about my fidelity...
my conscientiousness...
about my sleepless nights over problems at the boarding school.
She laughed.
And I thought, for the very first time, that maybe that's not all there is.
All this restraint.
Always being correct. Always correct.
I waited until she was 18.
Will my wife find out?
Who's the father of Katharina's child?
Me...
I thought.
Even though it was just once. I mean, I only...
We found several traces of you.
I so hoped I was the father.
She could have expected you to separate, to live with her and the child.
Yeah, that would have been the end of my career. I mean...
A divorced principal of a Catholic boarding school.
I would have done it in a heartbeat.
She humiliated you.
You were one of many.
And you'd have dumped everything?
Why?
Our German colleagues are interested in hair, tissue, particles or odor
of the German murder victim, Katharina Läufer called K.
- Odor? - Yeah.
Something like conserved odor.
You check here.
Restraint.
Regret.
Sorrow.
Reminds me of my ex.
Smells of nothing at all.
Will we call your perfume "Pain"?
No.
Pleasure.
Pain and Pleasure.
Cecile, Lily, Sabrina.
These bottles need to be analyzed for human material.
Include all perfumes with women's names.
The house search in Paris is underway,
as well as at Butsche's, both private and business,
at Sluiter's, at the Seligers' again...
and at all the men's whose sperm traces we found.
- Especially at the principal's. - Especially there.
I read Seliger's diary. Nothing in there about Merten Brodmann or perfume, though.
De Vries has a house on the Lower Rhine, as well.
That will be searched, too.
Time for an experiment.
You go first.
With what?
The thing is, smelling happens unwittingly.
Don't think about which bra smells the nicest,
but who you'd like to date.
One.
Two.
Three.
This one.
Next.
This one.
Yes, this one.
This one.
Your turn.
Let's hope your little experiment provides some insight.
It will.
Four of five men picked this bra.
It's Katharina Läufer's bra.
And how does this help us?
We now know that Katharina Läufer smelled exceptionally nice.
Maybe, but...
We need to check if Paula Perlmann had a special scent, too.
Yeah, maybe we should all be sniffing a hooker's panties.
The victims' scents could be the perp's motive.
Okay.
From tomorrow, we will keep Butsche, de Vries, Sluiter, the Seligers
and the boarding school principal under surveillance.
Even though some have alibis for the murders,
we can't rule out they were in it together or are covering for each other.
Then and now.
Thank you, Ms. Simon, for this little... entertainment highlight.
Grünberg is a bit hard on you at times.
I'm not going on a date with you.
Nobody asked you to.
Sure, and no one is mixing business with pleasure.
But do I pass your smell test?
No idea what you smell like.
Where were you last night between 10:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m.?
In the hotel lobby.
- For two hours? - Yeah.
I do that often.
I sit there looking for interesting conversational partners.
Are these your recent interesting conversational partners?
K.
Amelie.
Grietje.
Lily.
Fact is, all bottles contain traces of human material.
And you're wondering how it got in there?
I'll explain it to you.
You cover the ladies with a layer of beef and pork fat.
A ratio of 30:70 is best. 30% pork and 70% beef.
Then you wrap them in absorbent materials.
This way you can take the scent-soaked material off the lady.
Especially off Katharina Läufer.
Yes, I must have greased her about ten times.
Less was not enough.
She must have been lying there wrapped up for 20 hours, griping.
I read to her from the tabloids. The things you do for art.
You smell rather interesting, as well.
Bottled scents turn you on? Is that your idea of closeness?
Have you ever felt love yourself? Jealousy? Desire?
Yeah, I'm feeling it right now.
Those are the exact feelings you're exuding from each pore.
Desolation.
A lovely name for a perfume.
- What about Friday? - I'm free then.
What's this we're keeping in our office?
We're keeping a lock of Katharina's hair she gifted me.
What about your DNA at the prostitute's?
I was there. I found her.
I'll leave now.
Where were you last night between 10:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m.?
He was with me.
I'd like to hear that from you by yourself.
Go on.
Yes. I was at this wonderful woman's home.
She wasn't home, though.
I didn't know where to go.
In cases like that, I always visit my psychologist.
At 9:00 in the evening
you had a spontaneous meeting with your psychologist.
Yes, she's always there for you.
Well, we'll check that.
Mr. Butsche was here all evening and all night.
The girl slept in one room and me and Mr. Butsche in the other.
That was after hours, from 4:00 p.m.
Before that, he was in his office.
And I'm supposed to believe that?
Yes. You write that down now and I sign.
That's how it's done.
You do know what a false oath is?
Mine or yours?
From now on, you work the day shift.
This perfumer definitely has a scent fetish.
He's dangerous.
But he has alibis.
Daniel Sluiter was with his psychologist last night. She confirmed it.
She said he stayed even longer than he said.
If she's right, he could hardly have made it to Paula Perlmann's by 10:30 p.m.
The house searches didn't give us anything either.
There'll be another murder.
The surveillance team from Krefeld will be here tomorrow. Maybe.
It's really nice having dinner with you.
You were seen in the hotel lobby.
For hours. During the time Paula Perlmann was killed.
Your alibi for Katharina Läufer's murder was confirmed, as well.
To what do I owe the honor...
of the continuing enjoyment of your company?
Tell me more about the sense of smell.
The sense of smell is extraordinary.
All other senses are bound to the here and now.
We see what's happening in the moment, we hear what is being said.
But the sense of smell lasts a long time.
It tells of before and after.
What was after?
After you left the hotel lobby.
After the murders.
I went to sleep.
Alone.
No alibi.
Then again, what for?
You persuade women to let you grease them.
What if you also persuaded someone to commit the murders for you,
so you could make a perfume from the bodies after?
Who else would be capable of that?
See, that's the interesting part of police investigations.
We also deal with the before and after.
Who?
Who's comitting murders for you?
That's a very interesting idea.
Tell me, would you be ready for a little joint murder?
Okay then, have a nice evening.
There is one place where Roman wouldn't look for me, but...
Do you really think the police will believe Magda is in danger?
The main thing is you're away from Roman.
Once everything is over, the investigations...
we could go abroad.
With Magda.
They'll never believe me.
They're a lot smarter than us.
I helped you before and it worked.
Elena, please, what else do you want to do?
Leave Magda with Roman?
Or keep letting her watch what he's doing to you?
Elena?
I'm saving you.
Elena!
BASED ON THE THEME OF THE NOVEL
"PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER" BY PATRICK SÜSKIND
Subtitle translation by Britta Boyle