After being absolutely spoiled last time round watching Murder By The Book, Series 1 of Columbo continued its strong early season form in the shape of Death Lends a Hand.
So let’s get ambidextrous and furious as we race back in time to 6 October 1971 to hang with another of the Lieutenant’s most enduring foes: three-time guest killer Robert Culp.
Dramatis personae
Lieutenant Columbo: Peter Falk
Investigator Brimmer: Robert Culp
Arthur Kennicut: Ray Milland
Lenore Kennicut: Patricia Crowley
Directed by: Bernard Kowalski
Produced and written by: Richard Levinson and William Link
Score by: Gil Melle
Columbo Death Lends a Hand – Episode synopsis
Irascible Private Dick, Investigator Brimmer, attempts to blackmail the wife of media mogul Arthur Kennicut into revealing the inside line on her husband’s dealings with politicians and other heavyweight decision makers. Brimmer figures Mrs Kennicut will agree to his scheme, given that he’s just told her husband she hasn’t been having an affair – despite knowing full well she had following an investigation.
“After giving Lenore a good old-fashioned TV shaking, Brimmer then backhands her to the face.”
Later that day she breaks into Brimmer’s beach house to inform him she won’t play ball. Not only that, she’ll tell her husband about the affair and let him know how Brimmer really operates his business. Arthur Kennicut is not a man to have as an enemy.
The two clash. After giving Lenore a good old-fashioned TV shaking, Brimmer then backhands her to the face, sending her tumbling backwards to smash her head on a coffee table. Although not premeditated, Brimmer has a dead body on his hands and a plan that has spectacularly back-fired. He dumps the body in a far-away industrial estate and slinks away into the night.
Nanoseconds from rage appears to be Brimmer’s default setting
Not content to merely rely on the LAPD (including one Lieutenant Columbo), Kennicut hires Brimmer and his agency to help crack the case. During the first meeting between the two investigators at Kennicut’s palatial home, Columbo gains his first piece of evidence against Brimmer. They know the murderer wore a jewelled ring, because it left a mark on Lenore’s cheek. Professing a belief in palmistry, the wily Lieutenant gets to examine the hands of both Kennicut and Brimmer. Columbo notes that Brimmer does indeed wear a jewelled ring, though he keeps it quiet. The game is afoot…
Columbo’s investigations lead him to a local golf pro, who soon admits to an affair with Lenore. But Columbo eliminates him as suspect. His sun-tanned hands show he doesn’t wear a ring. Brimmer is looking increasingly likely to be the culprit, as the Lieutenant discovers him to be left-handed, like the killer, as well as being a man of a fiery disposition, apt to explode with rage given the right provocation.
“Brimmer is a man of a fiery disposition, apt to explode with rage given the right provocation.”
Brimmer throws Columbo a curveball, though, by offering him a job at his agency. He’ll triple Columbo’s pay, although he’ll take him off the Kennicut case. The Lieutenant mulls it over before ultimately declining.
With Kennicut demanding a swift conclusion to the case, Columbo plays his trump card. After finding out Lenore wore contact lenses, he has the body exhumed to see whether the lenses were still in place. He then calls Brimmer’s bluff by revealing that one lens is missing. If the killer only knew about this, says Columbo, we’d have the advantage because a crucial piece of evidence might be lying around to incriminate him.
Lenore Kennicut’s eye wear leads Columbo to discover a crucial clue
Stung into action, Brimmer desperately searches the thick rug in his home where Lenore fell, but to no avail. Maybe it’s in his car trunk, where he put the body before he disposed of it? But his car is in the agency garage after inexplicably failing to start earlier in the day. He must check, so heads over to investigate.
A frantic search of the trunk ensues and lo! He finds a contact lens in a corner. Pocketing it, he prepares to depart before being literally caught in the headlights as the hidden Columbo, Kennicut and co emerge from their hiding place.
“Would you mind telling us what you were looking for?” asks Columbo. “Papers… for a case,” snarls Brimmer, but no one’s buying it. Kennicut urges the investigator to confess to the killing, while the Lieutenant invites him downtown to explain himself on the record.
Feigning resigned annoyance, Brimmer agrees. As he marches out he attempts to bin the incriminating lens, but is stopped at Columbo’s command, who reveals the lens to the onlookers. As Kennicut looks on with pain etched on his face, Brimmer admits his crime and is lead away, lamenting that the Lieutenant never took up his offer of a job.
Brimmer busted, Columbo cool…
With just Columbo and Kennicut left at the scene, the detective reveals the truth: none of Lenore’s contact lenses were missing. That was just a ruse to draw out Brimmer. The one in the car trunk must be a coincidence, but anyway, Brimmer’s actions are all that matters now.
When Kennicut muses about how Brimmer’s car was out of action at such a crucial stage, Columbo spins him a merry yarn about how his misspent youth, putting cars out of action with a potato up the exhaust, must have played a part in him wanting to become a lawman, so he could make amends for these misdemeanours. The enigmatic Lieutenant then turns tail to leave the garage.
A bemused Kennicut turns to look at the car exhaust, checks himself, then spins on his heel and follows Columbo’s lead as credits roll…
Best moment – did he or didn’t he?
The final scene in the garage between Columbo and Arthur Kennicut is a thing of beauty. Firstly it reinforces the generally cordial relationship between these two very different men, enhancing the Lieutenant’s everyman appeal. But more importantly, by not looking up the car exhaust, Kennicut helps protect Columbo’s aura of mystery, which will be a key theme throughout the series.
We must always ask ourselves: is anything Columbo tells us true? Or does he make it up on the spot to suit his circumstances? Letting the viewer make their own mind up about what to believe is a pivotal factor in connecting to the character.
Columbo and Kennicut strike up an unlikely rapport
My opinion on Death Lends a Hand
If Murder by the Book gave us a quintessential killer in Jack Cassidy, Death Lends a Hand does so again with Robert Culp, who is many a fan’s absolute favourite. Jack will always be my personal No 1, but Culp gave us something very different.
“No one does barely controlled rage better, so Culp was perfectly cast as Brimmer and is a very dangerous adversary to Columbo.”
His villains are more threatening, less charming, more businesslike. Heck, with Cassidy you’d still want to hang out with him, even if you knew you were on his hit list. Culp is more liable to strike hard without notice. No one does barely controlled rage better, so Culp was perfectly cast as Brimmer and is a very dangerous adversary.
Suave, intelligent and dangerous, Robert Culp is a brilliant Columbo baddie
While the relationship between Culp and Falk is the glue that binds the episode together, special plaudits must also go to Ray Milland. He’s sensationally good in his understated performance as Arthur Kennicut. Cast as a media mogul, it would have been easy to fall into a one-dimensional braying and adversarial performance. Not a bit of it. Milland gives us depth and subtlety.
He succeeds in portraying Kennicut’s grieving, sorrowful side as effectively as he does the stern man of action. The dignified vulnerability he displays really touches the heart. I’d go so far as to say it’s one of the best non-killer guest star appearances we ever see in Columbo – everything his performance as Jarvis Goodland in Season 2’s Greenhouse Jungle is not, but that’s a story for another day…
“Ray Milland’s turn as Arthur Kennicut is one of the best non-killer guest star appearances we ever see in Columbo.”
And how is Falk faring in these fledgling days as Lieutenant Columbo? Extremely well. As mentioned in the review of Murder by the Book, he’s still refining the character, but Columbo’s as compelling as he’ll ever be. I like that we see his devious side coming through in such scenes as his effortless playing of a young, foolish private investigator to get inside information on Brimmer’s character.
He also displays a directness that we don’t often see. Note how he handles the nervous golf pro who has been having a fling with Mrs K. He’s very up-front with him, letting him know he’s onto him, and shaking his nerve. We are shown that Columbo handles different people in different ways, depending on who they are and the strength of their character. Perhaps the Columbo who rattles the golf pro is the real Lieutenant, more so than the bumbling, confused figure who so disarms the high society types who are his real suspects.
Columbo displays a direct, almost cocky approach to interrogating the weak-willed golf pro
Some of this directness and the speed of thought seems a little forced, mind you. Columbo’s onto Brimmer in a flash, for example – too quickly, really. He has no reason to suspect him when he’s reading his palm and establishing that Brimmer’s ring could be a match for the killer’s. Such big assumptions are more common in the early episodes, and aren’t always grounded in reason. It doesn’t greatly detract from the episode, though.
Probably the greatest insight we get into the Columbo character here is just what he’s willing to do to get his man. And while we know the Lieutenant’s motives are pure, Death Lends a Hand suggests his methods may not be. He blatantly plants evidence in Brimmer’s car as a means of collaring him, and he almost certainly put the car out of commission, too. It’s not exactly honest police work, and I do wonder if this is one reason why the episode didn’t open up Season 1 as was originally intended.
For Death Lends a Hand was the first episode of the season to be filmed, but was pushed back to accommodate Murder by the Book. Murder is the superior episode in my opinion, so a sensible move, but I have a hunch that Columbo’s unscrupulous tactics, as well as this not being a premeditated murder, might also have contributed to this being held back from raising the curtain on Season 1. Perhaps we’ll never know…
“While we know the Lieutenant’s motives are pure, Death Lends a Hand suggests his methods may not be.”
Elsewhere, the episode hits similar heights to Murder by the Book. The pacing is excellent, and some of the direction and editing is really first class. The murder itself is a particular highlight. After Brimmer lashes out, we’re shown everything and nothing as Lenore tumbles to her death, shattering a glass table with her head as she falls. The scene has been described as Hitchcockian with good cause.
Just as interesting is what follows, where Brimmer’s cleaning up of the crime scene is played out on a montage superimposed onto his glasses. It’s powerful, innovative stuff, and if you need a reminder you can view the clip below.
All credit must go to director Bernard Kowalski. He was in the chair for four Columbo episodes (also Exercise in Fatality, Playback and Fade in to Murder), but this is undoubtedly his most successful and memorable outing. Props to William Levinson and Richard Link, too. The show’s creators were also the writers of this episode (a duty they largely left to others) and it’s a really gripping mystery with great clues: everything they set the series up to be, in fact.
Readers of my previous reviews will probably have noticed that I do bang on a bit about the quality of the musical scores in these early episodes. Death Lends a Hand is no exception, but it’s very different to what we’ve heard before. Jazz composer Gil Melle is the maestro and this far-reaching and varied score is no less successful in setting the mood of the episode than the majestic efforts of Billy Goldenberg in Ransom for a Dead Man and Murder by the Book. Again, the clip above does an excellent job in showcasing Melle’s expert contribution.
In conclusion, Death Lends a Hand is another great piece of television, and almost as good as Murder by the Book. Certainly the two episodes ensured Season 1 got off to the strongest possible start and viewers can have been in no doubt that Columbo was shaping up to be one of the great televisual experiences of the age.
Did you know?
The exterior scenes of Arthur Kennicut’s mansion gardens (pictured below) were filmed at the iconic Beverly House, which was also a location used in The Godfather (1972) and The Bodyguard (1992).
How I rate ’em so far
It’s a close call, but Murder by the Book just shades it, remaining top of my list from the 4 episodes watched so far. It’s been quality all the way, mind you!
- Murder by the Book
- Death Lends a Hand
- Prescription: Murder
- Ransom for a Dead Man
Where does Death Lends a Hand rank in your list of favourites? Vote for your number one episode in the Columbo best episode poll here.
As always, I really appreciate you taking the time to read this. Check back soon as I investigate whether Season 1 can continue to deliver the goods when I review Dead Weight, guest starring Suzanne Pleschette and Eddie Albert.
Read my thoughts on the 5 best moments in Death Lends a Hand here.
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Cheers until next time!
This is one of the best episodes. The one twist which bothered me at first is that the contact lens was not that of the victim. Finding a random contact lens in the trunk of the car used to dispose of the body was a just too big of a coincidence. Until it occurred to me that Columbo planted that contact lens so Brimmer would find it.
Culp and Milland receive deserved credit for their turns, but Brett Halsey also deserves credit for taking a stock figure, the golf pro playing around with his lady customers, and giving a nuanced performance which turned him into a real and even sympathetic character.
Good point about the golf pro. One of my favorite moments of the episode is when after Columbo tells him he’s not a suspect because the killer wore a ring: The pro replies “I could have taken it off.” and Columbo shoots back “Not with that tan.”.
True–especially when he admits he’s not a very good golfer.
The trunk just happened to have a contact lens in it that didn’t belong to the victim or the police? That’s a stretch. And how many vehicles does Columbo scrutinize for signs of oxidation? And if he didn’t before, Columbo HAD to suspect Brimmer when the job offer came in.
Columbo planted the lens there.
It certainly is fortunate for Columbo that there just happened to be an extra gun in the elevator ceiling in “Make Me a Perfect Murder.” What are the odds? 🙂
😀
Interesting comment, as it
points out the similarities
and differences between the two stings,
and experience of the two villains.
Kay would have been stupid as hell to
leave the exposed gun up there. Had
she suspected that it was a plant though,
she could just have easily poked it back into
hiding without removing it.
Brimmer, as the ‘pro’, should certainly
have known better. He should have
wondered if he was being set up to look for
it. Yes, the contact lens would have been
incriminating,but it was safe where it was, and
he could easily have waited until he got the car
back. Police cannot arbitrarily search his car,
if there is nothing else connecting him to the
murder of the victim
But he was as clueless to all the sudden fuss
over a contact lens, as he was to Columbo’s
reason for reading his palm earlier. Which
should have put him on his guard, but didn’t.
Great classic Columbo episode and in my top 10. Though i rank Murder By The Book a little higher in my top 10, I do like the ending of this episode much more. Culp and Cassidy were so great for this show i would have to flip a coin to pick 1 & 2 as favorites.
Also Ray Milland did a lot better in this episode than in Greenhouse Jungle.
Watching the palm-reading scene to see what they gave about Columbo noticing the ring, right at the start. It is a big, showy ring, but he’s more intent on studying Brimmer’s face when they meet. Then Brimmer sticks his hand in his pocket.
There is a moment, though. Kennicut says he thought hiring Brimmer was a good idea, and while agreeing with him, Columbo’s looking around but then he looks right at Brimmer’s hand and pauses– then asks, “You two know each other?” (In other words, did this person know the victim?) And he starts to point at the ring but goes on to gesture at the two of them.
And then he feels much more optimistic about this whole thing– how about celebrating with a little palm-reading? And gets his fingertip right up on the point of that ring…yeah, that’d leave a mark like that…”Oh yeah, your Moon Line crosses your Mound of Apollo.
I foresee a long engagement with the State of California…”
In fact, Columbo’s so preoccupied with making the guy he walks into the closet. He’s just nailed Brimmer within a couple minutes of meeting him. It’s like finding Alex Benedict’s carnation.
I love your blog, it has unique articles, Thank you.
watched it this afternoon enjoyed it very much , one of the best columbos as it was so early , culp very good perhaps cheats in order to catch brimmer might cost it a few points , great episode wouild watch it anytime but it is still not in my top 10
It’s a terrific episode and I agree with everything you said about Robert Culp’s great performance. One tiny reservation: Is it a plot inconsistency that Brimmer is such a bad blackmailer? He bungles it from start to finish, with poor timing and a total lack of subtlety. Culp’s Dr. Kepple character from “Double Exposure” would have known better.
Another very good episode but ill be frank an say its not one of my favorites maybe the ending isn’t as good as some others, ( try and catch me,negative reaction , swan song, playback bye -bye and so on) also the murder was an accident ,which for me leaves it down ,i like ruthless well planned out murders which is what columbo is all about still not damning this episode by any means.
Thanks for the review. I don’t think it’s any exaggeration to say that the glasses scene is one of the most iconic in the history of TV drama. It certainly made a big impression on me when I saw it for the first time when I was about 10 or 11 in the early 1990s. Robert Culp is very charismatic and magnetic in this episode, as he also is in Double Exposure. The modernist music used in the glasses scene is fantastic as well. Columbo episodes always have two aspects to them: the storyline itself, and the general atmosphere and feel of the episode. Even if the storyline doesn’t always hold together perfectly, I find the atmospherics usually make up for it in most episodes.
Wow, just watched this episode last night. I have been recording Columbo episodes off a channel called “Cozi TV.” Little did I know that the episodes I am watching are edited! The whole “glasses crime scene clean-up” scene was not in there! There is nothing saying the episodes are in any way abridged so I am super annoyed and wondering what else I have been missing. It made a difference to the plot as well– since I never saw Brimmer stealing her money and jewelry, I wasn’t sure if he had done that, which led to confusion over how the police viewed the crime. What a bummer– I’m glad you posted the scene because it was artfully done.
I’ve seen a bit of backlash on Twitter about the CoziTV editing. It’s pretty poor form to do that. Best to get the DVD boxset and enjoy in full glory!
Melanie, I thought the same thing! Shame on Cozi to cut scenes to fit more commercials. I’m also wondering what else they cut. As for the stolen stuff, the cops do talk about her money being missing, and also Brimmer asks his minions to research any bank withdrawals to figure out how much could have been “stolen.” Still, the cleaning-the-crime-scene-in-the-eye-glasses device was very clever, and the Cozi merchants shamelessly deleted it!
Columba concludes that the woman was struck with a back hand and that the slapper hit the woman with a backhand on the right check, and also concludes that the slapper had to be LEFT HANDED. I wear a ring on a finger of my left hand but I am not left handed! Anyone agree or can tell me why I’m wrong?
I think Columbo’s logic runs like this: striking someone is usually done in a burst of emotion, or temper; when a man strikes a woman he tends to use a flat hand, rather than a fist (as he would when hitting another man); whoever struck Lenore Kennicut wore a heavy ring; the third finger of the left hand is traditionally the ‘ring finger’; the design of the ring was left on the face, therefore the killer struck a back-handed blow, and favours his left hand (because he was enraged and lashed out without thinking). A bit long-winded, but I think that covers it.
I think that covers it nicely. Only question mark is whether a man would really hit a woman with a flat hand rather than a fist. Maybe they would have in the 70s, but probably not today.
If you’re right-handed, you probably wouldn’t have hit someone with your left hand in a moment of panic, so you’d be a less-likely suspect.
Thoughts:
1) When I first saw the shot of Mr. Kennicut’s house, I immediately thought he must have gotten a great deal from Jack Woltz in the late 40’s to sell, and I wondered if he changed the master bedroom mattress. 🙂
I’m like you in this episode, I thought Ray Milland was a tour-de-force in this episode. He was sympathetic and yet bold. When Columbo first interviewed him, you could quickly tell he took him off the possible suspect list because of his blatant honesty, including his willingness to exercise force if something weren’t done quickly. I also felt Columbo must have sympathized with him as well, and imagined his own feelings if his beloved Rose were to meet such an end. You had the feeling that Columbo was going to do everything in his power to find the killer.
I almost got the feeling that Brimmer would have rather not been brought into the investigation. Even though he had the opportunity to guide it, his organization came under the lights of the police, and even worse, Columbo. I could almost see Columbo’s ears prick up when Brimmer said he had knowledge of no possible affairs after a previous investigation of a private matter. You could almost see the wheels turning behind his head; what private matter? You had a previous knowledge of Mrs. Kennicut and waited to tell me this? From then on I felt Brimmer was doomed. It was only a matter of time.
Finally I wondered about that contact lens in the car. Where did it come from? Was there some poor victim that was stuffed in that trunk who was ransomed or interrogated? We know what Brimmer is capable of, it doesn’t take too far a stretch to consider what may be possible. It made me think that as Columbo, I would be hopeful I could pick a latent print off that lens and send it to the cold case files for investigation.
I find it interesting that there is a question as to whether or not Columbo planted the contact lens. Of course he did. He couldn’t take the chance that Culp wouldn’t find anything – you can’t arrest someone for looking in their trunk, but if you tell him the murder victim lost a contact and he searches for it and finds it, there’s your case. Then you know he put the body there and was looking for the evidence – and found what he was looking for.
A tour-de-force performance from Robert Culp here. I remember finding him quite chilling the first time I watched this! The scene with the glasses reflection is clever.
Is the motorcycle policeman who pulls over then escorts Columbo to the body dump site actor/stunt driver Bill Hickman, from Bullitt and French Connection? I say yes. Cheers.
It is! Good get. I didn’t realise that.
Oops. I think Cozi TV deleted that part too. Pigs!
Excellent review, and nicely detailed, which is just what you want if you’re a big fan of a show — not the usual capsule reviews. I rewatched this episode recently, and despite already being a huge Columbophile, I was struck by how damn near perfect this episode is. It’s a terrific outing, with a very satisfying conclusion, and such an enjoyable bit of fencing throughout as Columbo tightens the noose bit by bit.
I like what you said about Columbo’s methods, too. Sure, he may be going off the book here, but it’s plain that he will (up to a point, of course!) do what he has to do to catch the culprit. His direct questioning of the golf pro certainly does stand out, if only because it clashes with the overly polite, seemingly deferential detective we’ve come to expect. I’m reminded of his explosion at Leonard Nimoy’s character in “A Stitch of Time”, which seems like one of those rare times that he’s actually lost his cool … only to be revealed as a very deliberate move to draw the killer out.
Really enjoying these reviews. Keep up the good work!
Thanks a million, and I’m pleased you’re enjoying the blog. I think the show deserves more detailed write-ups than are usually encountered.
I’ve always interpreted that he really did lose his cool in Stitch in Crime, but turns it into an opportunity to draw the killer out. The rage in Prescription: Murder towards Joan Hudson was clearly an act, though.
I do love a bit of Columbo rage, which are all the more powerful for their rarity.
“That makes the Lieutenant’s antics in several subsequent episodes make sense . . . .”
Yes, it does. That’s why I especially enjoyed the dènouement of NEGATIVE REACTION. It was one of the simplest, yet most damning “gotchas” of the series. Everything Columbo told Galesko could have been a lie and it didn’t matter one bit—all that mattered was that Galesko was able to pick out the camera that took the picture of the murdered woman, when only the suspect could have known which camera it was.
It’s interesting that you mention U.K. law because the one Columbo conclusion that virtually every reviewer of the show screams “Planted evidence!” comes at the end of DAGGER OF THE MIND, when it’s revealed that the good lieutenant pulled some sleight-of-hand and flipped that pearl into Sir Roger’s umbrella. Thus, when it was unfurled, and the pearl rolled out, it caused the Frames to think that it was, indeed, one of Lililian’s pearls, and Nicholas Frame started singing like a canary.
I don’t know, either, what U.K. law allows with regard to such things, but had that occurred in the U.S., it would have been perfectly admissable—so long as Columbo made known to the district attorney that it was NOT actually one of Lillian Stanhope’s pearls, but rather, that he had planted it to trick the Frames into confessing.
Misleading the suspect is a common police technique in America because—-well, as the character of F.B.I. special agent Mike Casper once put it, in an episode of THE WEST WING: “In thirteen years with the [F.B.I.], I’ve discovered that there’s no amount of money, manpower, or knowledge that can equal the person you’re looking for being stupid.”
Incidentally, I just read your review of DEAD WEIGHT and I particularly liked your observations. I’ll add some comments when I get a bit more time.
Thanks again for such a detailed comment. This is most interesting for me. I feel like you have broadened my Columbo understanding!
William Link and Richard Levinson wrote only two Columbos: “Prescription: Murder” and “Death Lends a Hand” (although they get “Story by” credit on numerous others). It is notable that both of these episodes have similar endings. In both, Columbo lies to the killer, sets up an elaborate ruse, and tricks the killer into doing or saying something that he wouldn’t have done/said otherwise. Other Columbos use this technique as well (e.g., “A Friend in Deed”; “Negative Reaction”), but many don’t. I find it interesting that Link and Levinson were “2 for 2” in this regard.
I’ve enjoyed all of your reviews so far. In fact, that’s how I found your site. I was looking for good viewer reviews of COLUMBO. I hope you’ll continue with them.
As a point of order, though, I take issue with your comment that Lieutenant Columbo “plants evidence” to nail Brimmer. By that, I assume you mean the contact lens that Brimmer found in the trunk of his car.
That contact lens cannot be false evidence because it never acquired the status OF BEING SUBMITTED as evidence. If, when he submitted the investigatory package to the District Attorney’s Office, Columbo had represented that contact lens as one that Mrs. Kennicut had worn, then it would be classified as “evidence”.
If that had been the case, then, because Columbo had full knowledge that the contact lens WASN’T one of Mrs. Kennicut’s, then it would, indeed, be false evidence.
But Columbo NEVER introduced that contact lens into the prosecution package as belonging to Mrs. Kennicut. We know this because he told Mr.Kennicut that the lens did not belong to his wife. Columbo would have had to have been a total idiot to admit to a third party that it wasn’t Mrs. Kennicut’s contact lens, then submit it to the D.A. as being so.
Columbo never intended to submit that contact lens as actual evidence. He planted it in the trunk of Brimmer’s car to make Brimmer THINK it was one of Mrs, Kennicut’s lenses. Thus, he guiltily tried to dispose of the lens and got caught in the act by Columbo. At that point, believing that it was Mrs. Kennicut’s contact lens and having been caught with it, Brimmer believed Columbo had caught him with incontrovertible proof of his guilt and confessed.
In brief, Columbo’s intent was to make Brimmer believe that he had been caught dead to rights and see if it would coax a confession out of Brimmer, which it did.
There is nothing illegal, unconstitutional, or unethical about tricking a suspect in that fashion—at least, not in the United States. U.S. cops are allowed to deceive a suspect as a tool to evince information or a confession. What they cannot do is claim that deception as being the truth in the investigatory package provided to the prosecution.
By way of example, suppose the police have a victim shot to death by a .40-calibre semi-automatic and a suspect whom they are questioning, if they show the suspect a .40-calibre semi-automatic and lie to him by saying it’s the murder weapon and they found it in his apartment, and the suspect believes the lie and goes ahead and confesses to the murder, that is perfectly legitimate.
BUT, if, subsequently, the police try to pass that .40-calibre semi-automatic off as the REAL murder weapon to the D.A.’s office, THEN it’s falsifying evidence and is illegal and unethical.
Cops can trick bad guys all day; they just can’t lie to the system.
I didn’t know this was how the system worked, thanks very much for clarifying. That makes the Lieutenant’s antics in several subsequent episodes make sense, including the conclusion of Negative Reaction (although his slump-shouldered freeze-frame pose suggests a mental anguish in having to resort to such tactics to get his man). My understanding is that this sort of approach would not be permitted in the UK, but I’m no expert on legal matters.
A complete digression, but I once asked an American friend why so many ‘traffic stops’ (like being pulled over for having a defective indicator light, which happens to Columbo here) end in violence and shooting. Apparently US police can’t pull you over if they just suspect you of carrying illegal drugs, only if there is an actual violation of the law. Interesting how approaches to law enforcement differ.
A great episode (and a great review),There are also some good moments of unforced comedy such as the business with the cupboard
Yes, that’s a nice moment. I also enjoy the scene where Columbo and Brimmer are lunching and Columbo’s tie dangles in the food and Brimmer mops it off for him.