Komisario Palmun erehdys

Komisario Palmun erehdys (1960) (Swedish title: Mysteriet Rygseck; international title: Inspector Palmu's Error) is a Finnish crime film directed by Matti Kassila for Suomen Filmiteollisuus. It is set in 1930s Helsinki and centers on Inspector Palmu's investigation of the murder of rich and decadent Bruno Rygseck. It is based on Mika Waltari's 1940 novel of the same name, and was the first film adaptation of his Inspector Palmu novels.

The film was followed by three sequels, Kaasua, komisario Palmu! (1961), Tähdet kertovat, komisario Palmu (1962) and Vodkaa, komisario Palmu (1969), which were produced by a different studio, Fennada-Filmi, but directed by Kassila and featured the same core cast. It has enjoyed great popularity over the years, and in 2012, it was voted the best Finnish film of all time by Finnish film critics, journalists and bloggers in a poll organized by Yle Uutiset.

The film opens with a scene of guests arriving at the crime-themed dinner party of Bruno Rygseck, the rich and decadent heir of the Rykämö concern. The guests are his cousins Airi and Aimo Rykämö, Airi's fiancé Erik Vaara, who works for the concern and strongly dislikes Bruno, and Irma Vanne, the daughter of vuorineuvos Vanne. In order to scare them as they arrive, Bruno has dressed up as the Grim Reaper.

The next morning, inspector Palmu and detectives Virta and Kokki are informed that Bruno has drowned in his indoor swimming pool after slipping on a bar of soap. They head to the Rygseck house to conduct a routine investigation. The party guests (with the exception of Vanne), as well as Bruno's aunt Amalia Rygseck and his estranged wife Alli Rygseck, are present at the house, as all of them had had something to discuss with Bruno that morning. As Palmu inspects the bathroom, he begins to suspect that Bruno was in fact murdered. When the policemen are shown around the house by Bruno's manservant, Veijonen, they find Vanne and famous author K.V. Laihonen engrossed in lively conversation in the basement. They are oblivious to the morning's events, as they had entered the house through the back door when coke was delivered in the early morning and have since been in the basement. Although Laihonen does not know Bruno or Vanne from before, he had been invited to the house by her to get back the stolen manuscript of his unpublished novel.