Gas, Inspector Palmu!

In Helsinki a rich widow is found dead in her flat from gas poisoning. At first sight it looks like an accident. But Inspector Palmu is caught by one detail: the killer made a mistake. Palmu opens the investigation with his assistants Kokki and Virta. The question is simple and difficult: who came in through the balcony door while the woman was asleep and turned on the gas? Matti Kassila directed the film from Mika Waltari's novel, and it is one instalment of the best loved detective series in Finnish cinema. Palmu is a grumpy, sardonic and patient man; his method is not to run around but to get people talking and catch the contradiction. Joel Rinne played the part in every film of the series. The telling carries the shape of the classic drawing-room mystery to Helsinki and never lets go of the humour.