Columbo Goes to the Guillotine story
Elliott Blake is a "psychic" who, with his girlfriend/partner in crime Dr. Paula Hall, is attempting to scam U.S. military intelligence into hiring him to use his ESP abilities against the Soviets. Blake and Hall rig a test with a stock set of Zener cards, but the Army wants more proof of Blake's abilities. They bring in Max Dyson, a magician with a side job in exposing fake psychics. Dyson, who has never failed to expose frauds, comes up with a new test for Blake. Three Army officers drive to randomly selected areas and take pictures of whatever they see. Then they will attempt to transmit those images to Blake with their thoughts. To the surprise and delight of the Army officials, Blake passes the test. What they don't know, however, is that Blake and Dyson are old acquaintances who both did time together in a Ugandan prison, and Dyson helped his old friend rig the test for old times' sake. Unfortunately for Dyson, Blake holds a grudge against Dyson for ratting out his escape plans to the guards, getting himself an early release and getting Blake three more years. Given a chance at revenge, Blake takes it: he traps Dyson in Dyson's own homemade guillotine, and decapitates him. Columbo now has to solve the crime before the government whisks Blake beyond his reach, changing his identity. Final clue/twist: Columbo tricks Blake into a confession and attempted murder by taunting him with a promise to investigate him for the murder for as long as it takes to bring him down. When Blake tries to kill Columbo with the guillotine, he confesses while he's pulling the plug. But because Columbo has rigged the guillotine, he is unharmed. Directed by: Leo Penn. Story by: William Read Woodfield.
18 total · 2 choice · 7 major · 8 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| how to murder someone and get away with it | choice | The fake psychic Elliot Blake, through some quick thinking on his feet, came up with the following elaborate plot to avenge himself on Max Dyson: He decapitated Max using the Max's own homemade trick guillotine. Then he hastily arranged for it to look like an accident. He used a magic trick to lock the doors from the inside as he left. One gathers that he would have gotten away with his crime had it not been for the meddlesome Lt. Columbo. |
| the desire for vengeance | choice | Elliot decided to take revenge on Max over Max having betrayed him years prior in the Ugandan prison. Elliot's vengeance took the form of him decapitating Max in Max's own homemade guillotine. |
| betrayal | major | The key plot element was Max having betrayed Elliot in the Ugandan prison by ratting out Elliot's escape plan to the guards in exchange for his freedom. |
| con artistry | major | The parapsychological researcher Dr. Paula Hall and her "psychic" accomplice, Elliot Blake, were faking research outcomes to secure continued funding for the institute. Elliot had designs on scamming the CIA into hiring him to use his supposed ESP abilities against the Soviets. |
| extrasensory perception | major | The villain of the story Elliot Blake faked having telepathic abilities, and had designs on scamming The CIA into hiring him to use his supposed mind reading abilities against Soviet double agents. |
| law enforcement | major | The bumbling but sharp-witted homicide detective Lt. Columbo was tasked with solving the following murder alleged mystery: Did a stage magician manage to decapitate himself in his own homemade guillotine, or did an aggrieved old acquaintance perhaps have a score to settle? |
| mind reading ability | major | The villain of the story Elliot Blake feigned to be able to hear the thoughts of other people, under certain circumstances and with a certain percentage of success. |
| romantic relationship | major | Elliot Blake and Paula Hall were romantically involved. |
| stage magic | major | The story's murder victim Max Dyson was an accomplished stage magician. Columbo made a concerted effort to learn the tricks of the stage magician trade in his pursuit of Max's killer. The magic shop owner adamantly refused to reveal trade secrets in the stage magic business. In particular, he refused Columbo's request to explain how the trick guillotine worked. |
| capital punishment | minor | The historical use of a guillotine as an execution device was briefly touched upon. |