Lieutenant Ulrich Schmied, working with the Police of Bern, is found murdered inside a car on the roadside. The police officer responsible to solve the case is Walter Tschanz and he is helped by Commissar Bärlach, who cannot investigate the case as he is very ill. However, Bärlach tells Tschanz that he knows who the murdered is and hopes that Tschanz can discover who he is by himsellf and bring him to justice. As the investigation progresses, the case gets stranger and stranger. Bärlach’s actions are bizarre and obscure until we reach the end of the story and everything is explained. Although it is a crime investigation and the main characters are all police officers, the short story is not about the investigation itself. In reality, it is about criminals who get away with murder… or at least try. It is about the good and the evil and the battle between the two. And it is about Commissar Bärlach’s relationship with a great criminal…
Friedrich Dürrenmatt was born in Switzerland, in the Emmental region, moved to Bern when he was 14 years old, and ended his days in Neuchâtel. Travelling from east to west, he relocated gradually about 90 km. Despite always living in Switzerland, he travelled the world, like he had dreamed when he was a kid. In the meantime, he studied literature and philosophy while dedicating himself to painting. In the end, he decided to become a writer.
When Second World War broke up, he was studying at the university, in Switzerland naturally. He wasn’t directly affected by the war, but his writings were influenced by it. They are dark and obscure, bizarre and strange. At the time, neutral Switzerland was crammed with war refugees, spies, and Nazis who wanted to hide their war looting in Swiss banks. It was perfect to study the dark side of people. The Cold War had also an impact on him.
“The Judge and his Hangman” was published in 1952, at the beginning of his writing carrier. The story takes place where he lived, so he knew the landscape very well. The story reflects the WWII influences and the writing reflects his literature and philosophy studies. Likewise, “Suspicion” is under the same spells and has the same main character, the Commissar Bärlach. It takes place after “The Judge and his Hangman”, but this time in the Zurich area, where Dürrenmatt briefly studied and, thus, was also familiar to him. This short story revolves around a Nazi medical doctor that may or may not still be alive and may or may not have his own sanatorium. Dürrenmatt explores here the WWII traumas and the people’s attitudes before these issues.
Friedrich Dürrenmatt died in 1990 as one of the greatest Swiss writers.
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