It only struck me this. Columbo accepts a Cuban cigar from Cahill and tells him he will smoke it on a special occasion. Columbo says to Cahill he will only take one and does.
So how at the end, when Columbo is seen lighting that cigar just as Cahill is about to confess that he manages to give Cahill another Cuban cigar from his pocket when he only took one to begin with?
Maybe Columbo lit up his own cigar for himself and gave the Cuban one back to Cahill, the “special occasion” being the end of the case?
No, it was definitely the Cuban cigar he took. You could tell by the size of it and it makes sense it was because Columbo himself said he would smoke it on a special occasion and to Columbo nabbing the criminal is such an occasion.
There are many cases where Columbo lights up at odd times. One of my favorites is when Prince catches him in the showroom of the funeral parlor smoking away. How disrespectful.
I always feel the same way when he's going through those uniforms in "Dead Weight." General Hollister worries about him RUFFLING the uniforms, when he should be more worried about that lit cigar right over them!
It's a lot better when Columbo is self-conscious about it.
I typed cigar into the search box, and fortunately (and surprisingly), it was easy to go back one year and browse the thread titles (I would have expected more hits for "cigar.")
I don't know of a way to specify a time range for a search...they are listed chronologically.