Definitely not one of my favorite episodes. I agree with you. The sister of Ruth is very annoying. And as far as trying to frame Janie she was doing anything to take the spotlight off herself.
I've never understood one thing, and that's why the police didn't confront Janie with the stolen item before arresting her. Of course, if they had, there wouldn't be that very good scene in the jail cell, but it's always confused me.
I've seen all 69 episodes multiple times and for some reason this one is one of the dullest of the group. Ruth and Janie were just......... B O R I N G! I ...just....really... didn't ... care. I liked Columbo's questioning of the light switch.
I like how you say that many killers on Columbo are "marksmen". That's both very funny and true!
Here's the thing that gets me about this episode, Edward is doing the inventory by listing the pieces they have on a tape using a microphone. Why then, does Columbo not hear the first shot when he's listening to the tapes later?
He doesn't necessarily play the tape recorder continuosly; he stops and starts it frequently. Also, it's not a high-quality microphone that would pick up far-away sounds. It definitely could have made for a good extra clue though! One of those "there's something on that tape that bothers me..."
They also failed to note that the brother didn't have powder burns on his hand, which should have been there if he had fired the gun.