A Case of Immunity story
Hassan Salah, chief diplomat of the Legation of Suari, an Arab nation with a new young king, has a scheme for shifting power within his government. He enlists Rachman Habib, a naïve idealist in the Legation, to help him stage the murder of a security officer, then plants evidence to make it look like the work of radicals. Salah pins the murder on the now-absent Habib, who, as part of the plan, has gone into hiding. Salah later kills Habib as well. Columbo unravels the truth, but finds himself stymied by Salah's diplomatic immunity. Columbo then meets the new king, who is on a diplomatic visit to the United States, and is liked by the young monarch. Final clue/twist: Columbo gets Salah, still under diplomatic immunity, to confess to the murder with the king listening in from the next room. To stay in the U.S. rather than be sent back to Suari and the torture that it is implied he would face, Salah signs a confession and waives his immunity from prosecution. Directed by: Ted Post. Story by: James Menzies, Lou Shaw.
11 total · 2 choice · 4 major · 5 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| how to murder someone and get away with it | choice | The Suari First Secretary Hassan Salah killed a Ligation security guard by bonking him over the head with a baton and, together with an accomplice, planted evidence to make it look like it was the work of student radicals. To cover his tracks, Salah later bonked his accomplice over the head with a flashlight and took measures to make it look like the man had driven over a cliff to his death. All this was part of a calculated plot to sour the progressive young Suari king against the revolutionaries' cause. One gathers that he would have gotten away with his crimes had it not been for the meddlesome Lt. Columbo. |
| political ideology | choice | The Suari First Secretary Hassan Salah was a counter revolutionary who killed for the sake of his political convictions. |
| conservative vs. liberal | major | The progressive Suari king was pointedly contrasted with the staunchly traditional First Secretary. |
| diplomacy | major | Columbo's job was made much trickier by the requirement that he maintain diplomatic tact while stomping around the Suarian Ligation, which was technically foreign soil. A State Department official impressed upon Columbo that advancing state relations with the Kingdom of Suari was more important than catching the murderer. |
| framing someone for a crime | major | The Suari First Secretary Hassan Salah tried to pin the murder of a Ligation security guard on student radicals, and later on his own accomplice. |
| law enforcement | major | The bumbling but sharp-witted homicide detective Lt. Columbo was tasked with solving the following murder mystery: Was the murder of two Suarian nationals the work of student revolutionaries, or did the killings go to nearly the highest levels of the headbonking Suari government? |
| absolute monarchy | minor | The Sauri king ruled his kindgom, largely unconstrained by law, although with difficulty because of independent minded bureaucrats. |
| foreign customs | minor | At the Ligation, Columbo was much introduced to the customs of the people of the fictional Arab kingdom of Suari. Columbo was surprised to discover that juice was being served i place of champagne at the Ligation function. Columbo twice stepped on First Secretary Salah's robe as it trailed on the floor. |
| hospitality | minor | The Suari First Secretary and king were notably hospitable to Columbo during his time at the Ligation. |
| revolution in society | minor | First Secretary Salah branded the student protestors as revolutionaries. |