Sex and the Married Detective story
Sex therapist Dr. Joan Allenby hosts a popular call-in radio show and has authored a best-selling self-help manual, The Courtesan Complex. She is also involved both professionally and personally with her business partner David Kincaid. That is, until late one night when Dr. Allenby makes an unexpected after-hours trip to her office and catches David in flagrante delicto with her assistant Cindy Galt in the therapy room. Dr. Allenby is incensed, and decides to kill David. To do so, she takes a page right out of her own book. She first disguises herself as a sexually aggressive, high-class prostitute named "Lisa", wearing a black wig and sexy black clothing, that she stashes in the women's bathroom of a fundraiser she's attending. During the fundraiser, she sneaks to the bathroom to change into her disguise. She then sneaks out in the disguise and goes over to a nearby bar where she's arranged for David to meet with her. Making sure to be seen, she tricks David into taking them both back to her clinic. Once there, she shoots him, then makes it look like the mysterious "lady in black" committed the crime. Final clue/twist: During their first meeting, Columbo notices that Allenby's new coat still has the price tag attached. He later makes the link connecting the new coat and the "lady in black" costume to the same store. He finds the tag in the trash and is able to contact the store where the salesperson who sold the wig to her was able to recognize Allenby from the photo of her in her book. Directed by: James Frawley. Story by: Jerry Ludwig.
16 total · 3 choice · 8 major · 4 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| how to murder someone and get away with it | choice | The sex therapist Dr. Joan Allenby executed an elaborate plan to murder her lover and business partner, David Kincaid, after chancing upon him in flagrante delicto with her assistant: She disguised herself as a high-class prostitute named "Lisa", wearing a black wig and sexy black clothing that she stashed in the women's bathroom of a fundraiser. During the fundraiser she sneaked out in the disguise and over to a nearby bar where she had arranged for David to meet with her. Making sure to be seen, she tricked David into taking them both back to her clinic. Once there, she shot him dead and made it look like the untraceable "lady in black" did it. One gathers that she would have gotten away with her crime had it not been for the meddlesome Lt. Columbo. |
| murder of a lover | choice | The plot turned on the sex therapist Dr. Joan Allenby executing an elaborate plan to murder her lover and business partner, David Kincaid, after chancing upon him in flagrante delicto with her assistant. |
| the desire for vengeance | choice | The plot turns on Joan shooting her lover, David, dead out of revenge for sleeping with her assistant. In Joan's own words, she wished to "make him pay for the anguish and the humiliation and all the loneliness to come". |
| fantasy romance | major | The plain Jane sex therapist Dr. Joan Allenby masqueraded as a glamorous prostitute to satisfy her sexual fantasy. |
| law enforcement | major | The bumbling but sharp-witted homicide detective Lt. Columbo was tasked with solving the following murder mystery: Was David Kincaid shot dead by a high-class prostitute, or was a spurned lover behind it? |
| love triangle | major | The plot turns on Joan reacting to stumbling upon her lover, David, playing pelvic pinochle with her assistant, Cindy. |
| medical occupation | major | The villain of the story Dr. Joan Allenby had a doctorate in psychology and was a practicing sex therapist. She made Lt. Columbo uneasy at times with talk about her professions, and was show counseling patients in a group setting in one scene. |
| prostitution | major | The sex therapist Dr. Joan Allenby had published a best-selling book, entitled "The Courtesan Complex", in which she advanced the theory that being a high-class prostitute is one of the most common sexual fantasies among women. Joan herself masqueraded as a sexually aggressive, glamorous prostitute named "Lisa". |
| romantic infidelity | major | The plot turns on Joan reacting to stumbling upon her lover, David, playing pelvic pinochle with her assistant, Cindy. |
| romantic relationship | major | The plot turns on the sex therapist Dr. Joan Allenby executed an elaborate plan to murder her lover and business partner, David Kincaid, after secretly catching him in flagrante delicto with her assistant. |