Columbo - Suitable for framing

 A good episode, I liked the investigation a lot. The murderer was an unbearable jerk, bu since he was  the murderer, I guess that’s to be expected, and accepted.

It starts very suddenly, I think it’s the only time ( or one of the few) we don’t geet to know the victim, not even a little bit, he doesn’t say a word, doesn’t have time to do anything. We see him playing the piano from behind, then a man comes in, we see his face for a moment and then the man shoots him dead. Right then. Then he proceeds to put things as he wantss them, which means that he puts an electric blanket over him so that his body stays warm for a while longer, he wants the police to believe the man died later. So, this Del Kingston, the victim’s nephew, starts throwing things around to mimic a robbery, because that’s what one would expect I guess. A richhouse , and of course a robber would throw some of the books around… mah. Anyway, he has an accomplice, a girl named Tracy, who waits inside while he goes out and drives to an art gallery, to maek sure that a lot of people will see him, as his alibi. At a specific hour, when the security officer does his round, Tracy puts the blanket away and then shoots at the air, so the man hears and runs in to find the body and think he’s just been killed.

Columbo is of course immediately suspicious of him, and he knows he’s the most obvious suspect, as the only relative other than the ex wife, so he rather smugly throws a letter in Columbo’s face after the will reading. He gets close to nothing, and the art collection goes to Edna, the ex wife. Del tells Columbo that he knew of it, Rudy wrote him everthing in a letter. 

Del took only two art pieces that night, a couple of Degas pastels, absolutely beautiful, and then later he got it back when he killed Tracy, that he now considered a liability, right after telling her that he loved her. He got home with a big bag containing the paintings, to find Columbo waiting for him. As usual, Columbo played the curious idiot asking to see what it was, but Del didn’t let him, of course, he could not.

Later, the gun used to kill Rudy is found in Edna’s garden, and the paper that wrapped the two Degas is found in her bin, and that should be enough to at least suspect her. That’s what Del expects from the police, what he wants, because if she’s blamed for it he’ll get everything. But Columbo ruins all his plans because he’s adamant that Edna not be suspected, that she couldn’t kill anyone, and refuses to have her house searched. Del Kingston really needs Edna to be arrested and therefore needs the police to search her house so they can find the two Degas that he placed there. So he himself insists, with the help of their lawyer, and of course the search brings out the Degas. Columbo stays the whole time with his hands in his coat’s pockets, never attempting to touch anything. Del of course fakes surprise, and is all How? What did you do? Or something, but contrary to what he expects, Columbo and the other policemen don’t jump on her to arrest her. No. What they do is check right away the Degas for fingerprints. Columbo explains right there to everyone present that he thinks Del did it, he killed his uncle and tried to frame his aunt to get hte inheritance, and the fingerprints will prove it. Del is the usual boisterous arrogant self, and shouts that his fingerprints don’t prove anything, because he touched all the paintings, he helped his uncle unwrap them when they came back from some gallery or something, but here he loses his smile. 

It’s not at all about his fingerprints, it’s about Columbo. Because Columbo’s fingerprints are on the Degas, because that night he could not see what was inside the bag, but he put his hand inside and he touched them. There’s no way something stolen by Edna could have his fingerprints on. 

There’s really nothing he can say now, no way to get out of this one; Del starts rambling about Columbo touching them now to trap him, but Columbo even has gloves on his hands (that anyway were still inside his pockets). So he’s busted. And for good.