In Columbo Goes To College, after the body is discovered, Columbo is trying to figure out why Professor Rusk left the class, and where he was going. Once he found Rusk’s cholesterol medicine in his pocket, he realized that Rusk was going to eat somewhere. He asks another officer for a list of the restaurants within a certain distance, but then he does something very strange: He instructs the officer to only look for higher end restaurants. I think he says something like (I have to paraphrase): “You know, a nice lace where you sit down, take your time, enjoy your meal”, etc.
My question is: Why wouldn’t Columbo expect Rusk to grab a quick bite and head back to class? After all, if Rusk had a long meal, he wouldn’t make it back which would be unusual. Does anybody else find Columbo’s reasoning counterintuitive?
I can’t think of any other clues in the series like this.
I've always wondered about this too. Columbo says he's disappointed that he didn't get to say goodbye to Rusk after the class over, so he obviously expected him to be there. My only idea is that Columbo figures Rusk wouldn't have left the class unless he was on his way to meet someone, probably over dinner since he found the cholesterol pills and figured he wouldn't leave to meet someone at a fast food restaurant.