An intriguing start to this episode. Hugh Caldwell has just killed his wife in a fit of jealousy as she has been cheating on him with younger men. He rings his friend Mark Halperin (Richard Kiley) who is gambling in a club with a beautiful lady by his side.
Halperin for some reason decides to help out Caldwell. Halperin cooks up an alibi for Caldwell and tries to pin the murder on a burglar operating the well heeled neighbourhood.
It turns out Halperin is the Deputy Commissioner of the police. Not only that, he then ropes in Caldwell to provide an alibi for himself. Halperin plans to get rid of his wealthy wife who spends her inheritance on charitable deeds.
Actor/Director Ben Gazzara provides muscular direction in this episode. There is a seediness to this episode as you see crooks such as Artie Jessup, the burglar set up to take a fall. Columbo knows that he is no murderer and contemplates that his superior may have committed a heinous crime.
What lets this episode down is the second killing. There was no way Halperin deserved to be the Deputy Commissioner with such a crack-brained plan.
It was never going to work as the bath drowning would had meant soapy water will get inside her body. Someone like Columbo would never be convinced with the pool drowning.
Halperin for some reason decides to help out Caldwell. Halperin cooks up an alibi for Caldwell and tries to pin the murder on a burglar operating the well heeled neighbourhood.
It turns out Halperin is the Deputy Commissioner of the police. Not only that, he then ropes in Caldwell to provide an alibi for himself. Halperin plans to get rid of his wealthy wife who spends her inheritance on charitable deeds.
Actor/Director Ben Gazzara provides muscular direction in this episode. There is a seediness to this episode as you see crooks such as Artie Jessup, the burglar set up to take a fall. Columbo knows that he is no murderer and contemplates that his superior may have committed a heinous crime.
What lets this episode down is the second killing. There was no way Halperin deserved to be the Deputy Commissioner with such a crack-brained plan.
It was never going to work as the bath drowning would had meant soapy water will get inside her body. Someone like Columbo would never be convinced with the pool drowning.