Very entertaining episode. I always enjoy it after watching The Most Dangerous Match
- I would have never guessed that detective Murray is the same actor as the murderer in the Murder of a Rockstar years later if I didn't find it out on some website
- I realy enjoy watching Lisa Chambers :)
- I dont' like Mrs Peck and her attitude to Columbo, but I enjoy the scene when Columbo is an open person and explains her that this is how he is and she is not fair to him
- when I was younger I always thought that the scene with Clifford being dead on electrical bicycle is kind of scary
- Columbo is really worried about his handkerchief :)
- when Mrs Peck is complaining about Columbo's cigar for the first time I can see that Murray is quetly laughing in the background
- funny when the soap is coming out from his hand, he whipes his hand on his coat :D
- what could be the reason that the brothers are blaming each other?
- this question was asked here a lot of times but: why did Lisa die? did the brothers want to kill two birds with one stone?
- there is a close-up of exterior of Lisa's apartment and you can see how the balcony looks like, and then from inside it looks completely different
- Columbo and Dexter travelled really easily from LA to Las Vegas, without any preparations, like it was a short trip with a car
- the lady in Vegas says that is the first time she sees Norman without necktie, but minute later the real Norman still is not wearing any necktie

Matti, I'll try to answer a few of your questions:

(1) Why were the brothers blaming each other? Norman and Dexter blame each other in order to cast doubt on each other. By laying out the case against each other it will make it difficult for the police to blame either one.

(2) Why did Lisa die? The brothers killed Lisa because they wanted to frame Hatheway. They knew Hatheway was going to her apartment to collect the will and by throwing her off the balcony they hoped to incriminate him in her death.

(3) How did Columbo and Dexter travel so easily to Las Vegas? Air travel was much simpler back in the 70's. It would be perfectly feasible to pop into an airport and purchase a ticket. Driving to Vegas from LA is about 4 1/2-5 hours (depending on traffic). Flight time will be about an hour.

(4) Why is Norman not wearing a tie? Norman is wearing a tie at the craps table in Vegas. Dexter is pretending to be Norman, which is why he isn't wearing a tie.

Always enjoyed this episode. I know Mrs. Peck gets ripped apart, but I enjoy her scenes with Columbo, especially the scene where Dabney Coleman is laughing in the background.

Thank you for your reply John,

(1) yes, you are probably right, they wanted to lead the police to the dead end by this behaviour

(2) ok, so that is what I meant by killing two birds with one stone, that confirms it
(3) I didn't know it was so easy (and cheap) then :)
(4) maybe it is my english but I thought "tie" is something else than "necktie". And as I am saying real Norman (the gambler) had only a tie :)

Back in those days you can walk into an airport and pay cash right out of your pocket for an airplane ticket. Without anybody giving any second thought to it. And the LA to Las Vegas run probably ran on the hour. So it would be simple to hop a plane over there. I don't even think that it's a full hour flight more like about 40 minutes.

This still makes me giggle though.
He asks Columbo to ‘follow him’, like he’s taking him to another room or something, yet there they are, in Vegas!

I understand flights were easier to buy, and possibly very frequent, but you’d still have to drive (in LA traffic), to the airport, park, get to the terminal, work out who is paying for the tickets, wait for the next flight, and then at the other end, you’d have to get a taxi, get to the casino and find his brother!

I know it’s for TV, but it would have been funny if Columbo had made some sort of joke about it.

Don’t forget they’d have to do all that in reverse! Did Columbo have no other jobs on?! ;)

i think they (also) killed her, because she was to inherit all

The fiancée was supposed to inherit all, but the corrupt lawyer was in cahoots with the brothers to get the will from her and destroy it. Once he had that copy, he was going to produce the uncle’s old will and Norman and Dexter would inherit all, after paying a tidy sum to the lawyer for managing the estate.

It makes no sense to me why the brothers would kill her and frame the lawyer. After doing that the lawyer produced the real will so the brothers could not inherit. Maybe I missed something.