I'm confused! Even though I like this one a lot, this episode always confuses me...sometimes I think I get all the facts and then I get confused again!!
The bit about the sketch...I think it was one of the primary traps for Columbo, Bob.
And Fred, if I'm understanding you correctly, the sketch artist got his info from Lawrence Melville...not from the picture with the Silver Star..
Yes, I think the sketch put Brenner on notice, but it didn't "prove" anything.
The picture at the amusement park with the two together and the Chinese pullout from the Olympics more to the point """prove""" Brenner didn't have an airtight alibi, and he had been lying as to when he wrote that speech for Vito.
and thanks robbie. i was racking my brain trying to remember the actual name of the plane...but i didn't want to cheat and look it up...i just knew you would know what it was. the t33 silver star! i can just hear patrick mcgoohan saying it.
At the beginning of the episode, you'll see Steimetz in the picture because Brenner is a double agent who is making money from the CIA as an "informant". To be blunt, he's a traitor.
I've always wondered why the CIA Director wasn't suspcious of the extravagant lifestyle of one of his agents (Brenner). I mean, do you think the CIA pays THAT MUCH?