Murder Under Glass story
Paul Gerard is a renowned restaurant critic, but gets rich extorting money from upscale restaurant owners in return for good reviews. When one of them, Vittorio Rossi, decides to no longer pay and expose Gerard, the critic kills him with a bottle of wine poisoned with fugu. Final clue/twist: Columbo figures out that Gerard poisoned the wine via the needle of the bottle opener, not in the pressure cartridge itself. He tricks Gerard into attempting to poison him in the same way, which provides the final evidence. Columbo then tells Gerard he suspected him almost immediately because Gerard did not rush to a hospital to be examined after the police informed him the man he just had dinner with died from poison. Throughout the episode, Columbo and Gerard have been respectful to one another, but both finally admit that they dislike each other. Columbo nonetheless asks Gerard what he thinks of the meal he has just prepared, and the charming murderer says, "I wish you had been a chef". Directed by: Jonathan Demme. Story by: Robert van Scoyk.
9 total · 3 choice · 3 major · 3 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| breaking the law to cover up another crime | choice | Paul Gerard and his mistress killed Vittorio Rossi to stop him from exposing them as extortionists. |
| gastronomy | choice | The story concerns haute cuisine and hijinx in the glamorous world of LA gourmet restaurants. Lt. Columbo was incessantly sampling delectables offered by well-wishing chefs who supported his investigation. |
| how to murder someone and get away with it | choice | About to be exposed for extortion, Paul Gerard decided to murder Vittorio Rossi in the following clever way: Paul extracted exotic poison from the rare fugu fish and concealed minute amounts of it in the needle of an N2O wine bottle opener. He then swapped Vittorio's opener and waited for the victim to unwittingly poison his own wine. |
| blackmail | major | Paul Gerard and his mistress had been extorting money from upscale restaurant owners in exchange for good reviews. Money was paid to the Restaurant Developers Association which Paul secretly controlled. |
| law enforcement | major | The bumbling but sharp-witted homicide detective Lt. Columbo was tasked with solving the following murder mystery: How had Vittorio ended up poisoned by wine none but himself had handled? |
| man and mistress | major | Paul and Eve were lovers, and partners in crime. |
| coping with the death of a family member | minor | Young Mario grieved over his late uncle, Vittorio and supported Lt. Columbo in his quest to bring the killer to justice. |
| funeral rite | minor | Vittorio was laid to rest. |
| uncle and nephew | minor | Vittorio had brought his nephew, Mario, over from the home country to teach Mario the restaurant business. |