The Russian train arrives in Berlin. One of the Russians returns to his home country while the driver stays in Berlin. Swetlana appears at the railway and tells the driver that the last car will be redirected to Paris instead of Istanbul as originally planned. When the driver gets suspicious, Swetlana threatens him with a gun, but gets stopped by German rail workers and arrested. The driver wants to look for Kardakow and goes to his pension, which happens to be the same as Gereon's.
The next day, Benda says during a speech that communist associations have planned to demonstrate on May 1st even though those kind of rallies have been banned in Berlin. According to Benda, the demonstrants want to bring down the government and wreak havoc over the city. Because of this, the police will be supported by additional forces from Spandau and Zehlendorf on the day. They will also be supplied with strong weaponry such as 100-round burst guns.
Gereon pays a visit to Bruno and his wife Emmi. When he doesn't tell his colleague anything about his conversation with Benda, Bruno gets angry and arranges that the two of them will oversee the demonstrations together. Gereon returns to his hotel where he finds the landlady, Elisabeth Behnke, the widow of an army comrade of Bruno Wolter, gagged. He and the Russian engine driver get into a fistfight, Gereon is able to throw him over a balcony. The driver gets then kidnapped on the street, Gereon tries to intervene, but fails to save him. The driver gets taken to a warehouse where he is questioned by Trochin, the Soviet ambassador. The driver admits that the train is loaded with a great amount of gold bars.
Meanwhile, Charlotte's mother Minna gets diagnosed with Syphilis. When she returns home, Charlotte fights with her brother-in-law Erich who lives with them but doesn't work. When he calls her a slut and a whore, she hits him with a stick and leaves. She goes to a cinema and tearfully watches the silent movie People on Sunday.
Tropes:
- Berserk Button: When her brother-in-law calls Charlotte a tramp, she loses her temper and beats him with firewood.
- Bound and Gagged: Frau Behnke was bound and gagged and left in the closet by Boris. Gereon frees her.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- "Mutti aus Wedding" remembers that the painting on the wall in the photo is of a red horse.
- In the car, Jaenicke reads the lips of the men in the restaurant and records this in his journal.
- Gereon confronts Boris, failing miserably and during a struggle Boris kicks the vitally important booklet of customs documents under the bed.
- Foreshadowing: When Police President Zoergiebel speaks about "defending the democratic constitution" Bruno looks distinctly unimpressed.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: After the incident with the Soviet agents kidnapping Boris, Frau Behnke offers Gereon a drink.
- Law of Inverse Fertility: Charlotte's mother visits a female doctor, Voelcker, and learns she has syphilis. She very reluctantly reveals that she had a single, very brief affair some twenty years ago. At this moment the scene cuts to Charlotte who is in her early twenties with the implication being that she is a child of a one-night-stand.
- Montage Out: Gereon investigates Kardakov's possessions. Kardakov heals his slashing wound and foot injury. Charlotte sleeps in Toni's bed, tucking her in. Sorokina smokes in her cell, staring at the train.
- Off Bridge, onto Vehicle Kardakov evades police by jumping from a bridge onto a coal barge, dislocating a limb in the process.
- Swiss-Cheese Security: Svetlana pulls a gun on train staff and gets involved in an attempted murder. She is not interrogated by police and is later released and allowed free reign over the trainyard where she switches train labels.
- Torture Always Works: Boris is interrogated and reveals that Trotsky is in Istanbul, and that the train is destined for him. The prospect of getting his hands crushed by a car makes him also reveal that the cargo of the secret train car is a large amount of gold – that of the Sorokin noble family.
- Van in Black: Soviet agents are staking out Kardakov's alleged residence from their car outside the house.
