In the first episode of Season 9 of Die Pfefferkörner, Emma is the only one of the pre-teen detectives left at school. Will she be able to keep the group going?

Margit Sponheimer performs her hit song "Am Rosenmontag" ("On Rose Monday") as part of the Carnival festivities in Mainz.

As the whole precinct celebrates the safe return of the Miriam's baby, Dirk receives a surprising inheritance from Kutte...

With his parents reunited, Sascha makes one last wish – and Johannes and Marion are suddenly brought together, just in time for Christmas.

Dirk goes to wake Kutte, only to find a very sad scene. Meanwhile, Harry and Henning wrap things up with the stolen mail incident.

Johannes, Konstantin, and Phillip work the Christmas sale together at Johannes's pet store, making sure that all of the animals leave with loving new owners. Finally, only the parrot remains, which then goes to a very special home...

Kutte refuses to go to a shelter for the night. Miriam finally turns up at the police station looking for her baby, and they all head over to her father's... only to discover that the baby's no longer there.

Henning and Harry discover that Potowski did in fact steal the letters, then find him in grave danger. Dirk reaches a decision about Kutte, and Miriam realizes that trusting her father with her newborn was a very bad decision.

Marion tries to talk to Johannes, but he's too preoccupied with reuniting Sascha's parents – and she's getting the wrong idea about his relationship with Sascha's mom. Sascha's father has gotten some rest and is ready to help out in the pet shop, which is good because there's a Christmas sale and the store is an absolute zoo!

Miriam's mother confronts her about the baby and refuses to accept her decision to keep it, eventually kicking her out. Meanwhile, Harry begins to suspect that the building manager has something to hide...

Marion overhears Johannes speaking candidly with Sascha's father and realizes she has still has feelings for him. When her boyfriend Hans-Peter comes to the door, she has to tell him she's no longer interested.

After Sascha's mother tells Johannes about the bench on the canal where she and Phillip first kissed, Johannes finds him sleeping there and in very bad shape. He brings Phillip home and tries to console him. Marion, meanwhile, overhears everything through the thin wall between the apartments.

The team desperately searches for the young mother and her baby, who is in need of medical attention. Dirk is torn as to whether he should adopt Kutte, because he isn't sure he can afford it.

Johannes and Konstantin try to find Sascha's father. Then Sascha's mother comes to visit Johannes to compare notes – and accidentally rings Marion's bell.

While Lothar, Dirk, and Nicki contemplate life and death at the station, Miriam's baby disappears from the hospital and is known to be in grave danger. Meanwhile, Harry and Henning try to get to the bottom of the mail theft case that has caused a dispute between two neighbors.