Undercover story
Irving Krutch, a crooked insurance investigator, enlists the help of Columbo to solve a series of murders that starts when two men, each of whom possesses a piece of a photograph, kill each other in a burglary gone wrong. Some years back a group of four men robbed a bank, but all of them were killed by the police in a shootout after they were caught in a car accident. But before they died, they hid their loot somewhere which can only be found through the assembled photograph. Columbo must go undercover to recover some of the pieces, solve some murders to get some others, and all the while trying to figure out what Krutch might be after. Burt Young has a cameo as a small time hood and Columbo does comic relief in the roles of a mob wise guy and a gang boss. This episode is based upon the 87th Precinct novel Jigsaw by Ed McBain, although not credited as such. This installment thus departs from the usual format by not revealing the culprit until the end of the show. Unlike the previous episode based on McBain source material, No Time To Die, this features a regular character from the 87th Precinct series, Arthur Brown, played by Harrison Page. Directed by: Vincent McEveety. Story by: Ed McBain;, Gerry Day.
9 total · 1 choice · 4 major · 4 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| greedy search for hidden loot | choice | The insurance investigator Irving Krutch, as well as a number of other people, murdered each other in attempts to get hold of fragments of a photo that reportedly would show where $4 million in loot was stashed. |
| law enforcement | major | The bumbling but sharp-witted homicide detective Lt. Columbo was tasked with the following murder mystery: Why did two shady characters murder each other over a fragment of a photo? |
| murder | major | Whilst investigating the murder of two people by each other, several more murders occurred in and around Columbo's attempts to crack the case. |
| organized crime | major | Columbo went under cover as an Italian mobster. Cheesy music inspired by The Godfather was played. |
| work partner and work partner | major | The comic interactions between Columbo and his various colleagues, especially Sergeant Brown, were at the center of the story. |
| art related occupation | minor | Columbo interviewed a woman who ran an art gallery. |
| bank robbery | minor | The story followed a race between the police, an insurance guy, and various mobsters to uncover the location of some $4 million of loot from a bank robbery. |
| human in danger | minor | Columbo was only mildly apprehensive about putting his life on the stake by posing as an Italian mobster, but his boss ordered him to go armed. Columbo, uncharacteristically, got into scuffles. |
| prostitution | minor | The buxom prostitute Dorothea mistook Lt. Columbo for a john when he came knocking on her door. |