A Matter of Honor story
Retired and renowned matador Luis Montoya is a Mexican national hero. His trusted bookkeeper, Hector Rangel's son Curro is also a bullfighter. When Curro is gored in the bullring, Montoya freezes up in fear and does not challenge the bull. He later decides to kill Hector, who knows what happened. Montoya lures Hector to the ring, where he shoots him with a tranquilizer gun, and unleashes the bull on the prone man. The result is that it appears Hector tried to take revenge on the bull that gored his son. Columbo, who just happens to be in Tijuana for the weekend, is recognized by a suspicious local chief of police, who enlists Columbo's help. Final clue/twist: Due to the condition of the muleta used to attract the bull, Columbo deduces the time frame of the murder, a period for which Montoya has no alibi. To prove Montoya's motive, Columbo persuades Curro to lure Montoya into the ring. The bull is then released, and the ex-matador again becomes paralyzed with fear, this time in front of witnesses. This episode is noteworthy as the murderer's motive is not revealed until the very end. Directed by: Ted Post. Story by: Brad Radnitz.
23 total · 3 choice · 7 major · 13 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| honor | choice | Luis Montoya dishonorably slew his longtime friend and employee Hector Hector Rangel to protect his reputation as a fearless bullfighter and a national hero. |
| how to murder someone and get away with it | choice | The retired matador Luis Montaya resolved to dispose of Hector Rangel when Hector learned Luis' embarrassing secret, that he was deathly afraid of a bull, in the following elaborate way: Luis tricked Hector to go to the arena and shot him with a tranquilizer dart. He then released the bull and let it gore Hector to death. One gathers that he would have gotten away with his crime had it not been for the meddlesome Lt. Columbo. |
| the importance of reputation | choice | The renowned matador Luis Montoya' reputation was at the center of the plot. Luis had murdered Hector in order to prevent it from being known that Luis was deathly afraid of a bull. The police's work was made politically perilous by the fact that Louis was a national hero. |
| blood sports | major | That controversial physical contest or pseudo-sport (depending on how you view it) popular in Spanish culture countries, bullfighting, was at the center of the plot that Columbo had to unravel. |
| fear for one's life | major | Luis had become paralyzed with fear at the prospect of facing the murderous bovine. This weakness became his undoing when Columbo staged a trick to expose him as the murderer. |
| foreign customs | major | Columbo learned all about the practice of bullfighting while "vacationing" in Tijuana. The ex-matador Luis impressed upon Columbo, who expressed a certain distaste at the prospect of watching a bull being killed in sport, that bullfighting was an important part of his culture, and perhaps not so different from a prize fight or the hunting of a deer with a rifle. |
| human vs. beast | major | The story concerns bullfighting in general, and a renowned bullfighter's sudden fear of facing a certain bull, in particular. |
| law enforcement | major | The bumbling but sharp-witted homicide detective Lt. Columbo was press-ganged into assisting the Mexican police with resolving the mystery of the death of Hector Rangel. Had Hector really just sauntered into the arena to challenge a ferocious bull and lost, or was there foul play at work? |
| pride | major | The retired matador Luis Montoya prided himself on his courage around the bulls, and was humiliated when he terror of the bull that had gored an up and coming bullfighter was revealed for all to see. |
| what it is like to travel | major | The story follows Columbo on his trip to Tijuana. |