Troubled Waters story
While aboard a Mexican cruise he takes frequently, auto executive Hayden Danziger has been having an affair with the lounge singer Rosanna Wells. When Wells threatens to expose their affair to Danziger's wife, Sylvia, Danziger decides to get rid of Wells. To set up his alibi, he inhales some amyl nitrite to feign a heart attack in the swimming pool, so that he will be checked into the ship's hospital. During a lapse in security, Danziger dons a crewman's uniform, sneaks out of his hospital bed, and waits in Wells's cabin for her performance break. When Wells comes back, Danziger shoots her, plants evidence to implicate a band musician, Lloyd Harrington – who had been in a relationship with Wells before she discarded him – ditches the pistol, and returns to the hospital before the doctors can find him missing. Columbo, vacationing on the cruise with his wife, is pressed into service by the ship's captain. Final clue/twist: Columbo convinces Danziger that he can only arrest Harrington if they find the gloves he used during the murder, which would have gunpowder residue on them. So Danziger puts on another pair of rubber gloves and, down in the ship’s engines where he cannot be heard, fires a gun from the magician’s show. The gloves are then conveniently left by Danziger to be found by the ship’s crew. However when given the gloves to analyze, Columbo is no longer interested in powder burns, instead he finds Danziger's fingerprints on the inside of the gloves. Directed by: Ben Gazzara. Story by: Jackson Gillis, William Driskill.
19 total · 2 choice · 6 major · 10 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| blackmail | choice | Rosanna tried to blackmail Hayden out of hush money in exchange for keeping quiet about their affair. Things didn't end well for Rosanna, however, as Hayden elected to shoot her dead rather than cough up the cash. |
| how to murder someone and get away with it | choice | Auto executive Hayden Danziger came up with the following intricate device to rid himself of his inconvenient lover, the lounge singer Rosanna Wells during a cruise: He used amyl nitrite to feign a heart attack and be taken to sickbay. From there he simply snuck down and shot Rosanna dead, whilst taking care to implicate band musician Lloyd Harrington in every way imaginable. One gathers that he would have gotten away with his crime had it not been for the meddlesome Lt. Columbo. |
| extramarital affair | major | Auto executive Hayden Danziger rid himself of his inconvenient lover. |
| framing someone for a crime | major | Auto executive Hayden Danziger took care to implicate band musician Lloyd Harrington in every way imaginable. |
| law enforcement | major | The vacationing detective Lt. Columbo was tasked with the following murder mystery: Who shot dead the lounge singer on the cruise to Acapulco? |
| maritime occupation | major | The captain pressed Columbo into service in order to resolve the mysterious murder, and was involved in the investigation throughout. They crew members were also show performing their various duties aboard the ship. |
| what if I were being framed for a crime | major | Lloyd Harrington was mighty upset at being the primary suspect in the murder of Rosanna Wells. Luckily for him, Columbo was there to uncover the real murderer and his nefarious plot to frame Lloyd Harrington. |
| what it is like on a passenger liner | major | The story took place on a cruise from Los Angeles to Acapulco, and we got a detailed view of the goings on there as they were imagined by the author. |
| coping with getting dumped | minor | Lloyd Harrington found himself unceremoniously dumped by Rosanna Wells like a sack of so-many potatoes. He heaped invectives on her and went away visibly frayed. |
| corporate executive | minor | Auto executive Hayden Danziger was hosting some business associates on the cruise to Acapulco. |