i have often expressed how much i enjoyed the ruth lytton character and how i thought she was one cool customer, and at the same time an interesting and complex character. i love joyce van patten in the role.
but that being said, i have never quite understood where she stood concerning her niece janie. she seemed to love her more than her own mother did, and she protected janie over and over again. so why did auntie ruth turn on her and try to frame her??

Auntie Ruth really did not know what she wanted to do. She was simply distraught over her brother wanting to close down the museum. Her brother should have remained attorney of the Paris estate and she should have kept working in the soup kitchen.

good one david!

That was a strange episode with a fine-yet-incongruous cast of lead characters, and no matter how many times I've seen the ep over the years, I could never accept the Brunetted Bucktoothed Berlin as the niece.

Anyway, it's been awhile now and details are vague, but I think Lytton framed the daughter she never had to settle an old score over what (in her mind) should have been.

If I recall correctly, her sister ran off with the man she was supposed to marry, but come on folks, the capacity of Ruth's sadism hardly required interpretation when she could gun her brother down like murdering family members was just another loathesome chore.

but karl..throughout the episode there were such conflicting ideas and emotions of ruth lytton. on one hand she was the matriarch of the family, loving and protecting at every turn...and in the next moment she was killing off her brother and framing her niece. i just don't get it...but maybe that is the reason that i find her one of the most intriguing murderers that has ever appeared as a columbo murderer. she is the epitome of the complex character.

Don't certain species of Lizard eat their young if they hang around too long? There you go.

ha ha ha!!!! there was a certain resemblance to lizards in that family...