It's All in the Game story
Wealthy socialites Lauren Staton and Lisa Martin conspire to murder their abusive, two-timing lover Nick Franco. Lisa lures Nick into his apartment, but Lauren commits the actual murder by shooting him and then fleeing. Lisa stays behind in the apartment, keeping the body warm for several hours with an electric blanket until Lauren returns to the complex and begins talking with the building manager. While they're in the hallway, Lisa fires a shot into the air, then flees through the patio in disguise, making it seem like the murder happened right then. During the whole investigation, Lauren takes all the heat from Columbo to protect Lisa, even going so far as to romance him. Final clue/twist: When Columbo discovers that Lisa was the only person Nick had talked to by phone in the ten days prior to his death, Columbo searches her apartment and comes across a photograph of her posing next to a one-of-a- kind antique chair similar to the one that Lauren had posed with in another photograph he had also seen. Upon comparing the two photos side-by-side, he concludes that it was the same chair, and same location, in both photos, indicating to him that Lisa and Lauren might actually know each other. He brings Lisa in for questioning and has Lauren watch behind a one-way mirror. As it turns out, Lisa is Lauren's daughter, and when Lauren sees Lisa being loudly interrogated by Columbo's associates, Lauren breaks down and offers to confess on the condition that Columbo let Lisa go. Lauren admits to the murder, but refuses to name Lisa as her accomplice. When Columbo learns that Lauren's motive was to avenge Nick's cheating as well as his physically attacking Lisa with a razor, Columbo rips up the photo evidence implicating Lisa, deciding not to charge the daughter as she heads back to Rome. This is one of two episodes (the other being "Forgotten Lady") in which Columbo allows a murderer to go unpunished. Directed by: Vincent McEveety. Story by: Peter Falk.
25 total · 4 choice · 12 major · 9 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| duty vs. compassion | choice | The story led up to the following dilemma for Lt. Columbo: Should he do his duty and capture the two murderesses, or should he look the other way on account of the victim having been an abusive man? He settled for (the half-measure) of letting the younger of the women go free. |
| how to murder someone and get away with it | choice | Lauren Staton and her daughter, Lisa Martin, carried out this seemingly foolproof plan to murder their abusive, two-timing, mutual lover Nick Franco: Lauren shot Nick dead in his apartment one night with Lisa on hand. After fleeing the scene, Lauren had Lisa wrap the body in an electric blanket to keep it warm and then wait around. Lauren went back to Nick's apartment complex late that same night under the pretense of paying him a visit. Having "forgotten" her key, she asked the building manager to let her in Nick's apartment. Lisa fired a shot into the air once Lauren and the building manager were within earshot, and then hightailed it out of there with the electric blanket, leaving behind only the warm body. In this manner, Lauren secured for herself a seemingly airtight alibi. One gathers that Lauren would have gotten away with her crime had it not been for the meddlesome Lt. Columbo. Lisa, on the other hand, was let off scot-free. |
| murder of a lover | choice | Lauren Staton and her daughter, Lisa Martin, conspired together to murder their mutual lover Nick Franco in part to avenge his abusive, two-timing ways. |
| the desire for vengeance | choice | Lauren Staton shot her lover, Nick Franco dead to avenge not only his cheating on her with her own daughter, but also for having disfigured the daughter with a razor blade. |
| coping with a loved one being in peril | major | Lauren was distressed about her daughter being threatened by Nick Franco and decided to murder him. |
| extramarital affair | major | Columbo embarked on a steamy series of romantic dates with the woman he suspected of murder. It is left open whether he had genuine feelings for her, behind Mrs. Columbo's back, or merely did it as a ruse to solve his case. |
| fear for one's life | major | Lisa feared that her abusive boyfriend, Nick, would kill her. |
| gold digging | major | Nick Franco had seduced Lisa and, upon hearing about her wealthy Beverly Hills mother, proceeded to seduce the mother as well. All to bankroll his excessive gambling. |
| killing in self-defense | major | Lauren and Lisa argued that they killed Nick because he would otherwise kill Lisa. |
| law enforcement | major | The bumbling but sharp-witted homicide detective Lt. Columbo was tasked with the following murder mystery: Was the international playboy Nick Franco shot dead in a burglary gone wrong, or could one or two of his lovers have been behind it? |