Yes, I agree on the sounds in that scene, particularly as you mentioned the surf and the gulls. I always enjoy that scene as well.

I meant to remark about this before, but, yes, that is interesting about Vincent Pauley and Clifford Paris, two victims who didn't drink, but both for quite different reasons (of course, as you mentioned, Grant, Clifford may not have avoided alcohol completely).
One thing about Vincent Pauley I had always found sort of interesting is that whenever Joe offers him a drink, he simply responds with, "No, thank you" or, "I'll pass", never really explaining the matter of his diabetic condition. I've wondered if his discreet responses were merely a matter of pride, or perhaps a safety precaution, not wanting Joe to be aware of any possible weaknesses that could be exploited (especially given the fact that their "relationship" was one ripe for double-crosses, as Pauley well knew from the beginning).

You have to bear in mind that this show was produced during the "Sinatra" era, where smoking and martini's were the social rule. For me, it was Columbo's on-again off-again propensity for drinking that amused me.

I know that the NEGATIVE REACTION actor (whose name is a little tricky on some websites) had a very public drinking problem and recovery. (Even though I haven\'t seen in in quite some time, he did a TV movie about the subject, even though he didn\'t literally play himself.) So when he tells Columbo \"I\'d offer you something, but I\'m not a drinker,\" it\'s kind of significant.

Probably one of the best lines about the killer\'s drinking habits versus Columbo\'s drinking habits is at the end of RANSOM FOR A DEAD MAN, but I won\'t spoil it for anyone who\'s never seen it, or hasn\'t seen it in a long while.

I noticed that when watching the episode today. I'd seen him on the D Cavett show recently talking about it, the era when he had a beard, so realised today, seems to be a reference to real life.

On general drinking, growing up watching tv and nearly everyone had a bar in their living room, seemed like my family home was lacking such a thing!