Suitable for Framing story
Art critic Dale Kingston murders his uncle and tries to frame his aunt to inherit his uncle's very valuable art collection. He later murders his lover and accomplice in the crime, the gullible art student, Tracy. Final clue/twist: Kingston hides the paintings that he stole after the murder in his aunt's house to frame her, then arranges for the police to find them. Columbo, arriving late on the scene, accuses Kingston of the murder and says he can prove it with fingerprints. Kingston replies that his fingerprints being all over the paintings prove nothing. Columbo retorts that it is his own fingerprints that prove the case, from when he touched the paintings early in the investigation, when he visited Kingston in his home. Shaken, Kingston insists that Columbo must have touched the paintings moments ago, to frame him. Columbo takes his hands out of his pockets to show that he has been wearing gloves the whole time. Directed by: Hy Averback. Story by: Jackson Gillis.
16 total · 3 choice · 8 major · 5 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| framing someone for a crime | choice | The art critic Dale Kingston shot his uncle dead and tried to frame his aunt for the crime all in a bid to inherit his uncle's valuable art collection. He would have gotten away with it too had it not been for the ever-pesky Lt. Columbo. |
| greedy heir | choice | The art critic Dale shot his uncle dead to inherit the old man's valuable art collection. |
| how to murder someone and get away with it | choice | The art critic Dale Kingston shot his uncle dead and tried to frame his aunt for the crime all in a bid to inherit his uncle's valuable art collection. He would have gotten away with it too had it not been for the ever-pesky Lt. Columbo. |
| appearances can be deceiving | major | Witnesses and villains alike are caught off guard by Lieutenant Columbo's bumbling façade, which invariably proves to conceal a laser-focused mind. |
| art discussion | major | Dale Kingston was a renowned art critic and spoke about paintings on several occasions. Lt. Columbo made a nuisance of himself, among other things, by showing up with paintings and asking Dale to comment on them. |
| art related occupation | major | The villain of the story Dale Kingston was an art critic of some renown. The viewer is shown Dale engaging in his profession: he critiqued the paintings on display at an art showing, filmed an art criticism segment to be aired on television, and conversed about the art of painting with Columbo. |
| aunt and nephew | major | The art critic Dale tried to frame his aunt for the cold blooded murder of his uncle. |
| false friend | major | The art critic Dale betrayed his young lover, Tracy. He led her to believe she was a talented painter. But in reality he was only using her to help him commit the perfect murder. He killed her in the end to make sure she wouldn't be around to blab about the crime. |
| law enforcement | major | The bumbling but sharp-witted homicide detective Lieutenant Columbo was tasked with the following murder mystery: Who had murdered a famous art collector and absconded with his two prized Degas paintings. |
| parricide | major | The art critic Dale Kingston shot his uncle dead and tried to frame his aunt for the crime all in a bid to inherit his uncle's valuable art collection. |