that's a great point. He should at least have had to come up with some cover story for what he had to see Mark about.

A similar point of suspicion that never comes up, in "Try and catch me", is that the victim died the SAME DAY that he signed his will, with the beneficiary being the woman in whose safe he died. Only about the most obvious clue anyone ever heard of.

yes...great point clay....I'm sure there are more if we put our minds to it...

I've said this almost a dozen times, but my problem with DEATH LENDS A HAND is that it has a blackmailer who gives the victim everything she wants (the "clean bill of health") BEFORE he threatens her. And since she's a smart person herself, she should know that, especially since he gives her hours to think about it before she makes her decision.

Well no, it isn't. The start of the investigation was based on the fact that the murderer was a burglar, and the time of death was well after Caldwell arrived at the club (where he was apparently a 'regular'). So - no explanation needed.

It IS a good point. Or maybe it is not. Who cares? This is not a forum for arguing. It is best for all of us to refrain from argument starter remarks like, "Well, no it isn't."

thank you for saying that...as a new member I thought the .."well no it's not"...a bit shall we say...harsh
and agree this should a forum to celebrate the show we all love...and to discuss it...
having said that...I realize typing words gives no inflection...and therefore comments can be misconstrued sometimes...we've all had it happen to us in emails etc...

having said THAT...I still think my point was valid...despite the investigation being based on robbery initially...to me...ANY marital murder would trace the surviving partner's whereabouts...in this case the bar...and again...someone commenting on Caldwell's connection to Halperin...

another point I found odd was Halperin's flagrant gambling and womanizing in public when he's an acting police Commissioner...though that may have been to REALLY surprise us when his vocation is revealed...

Yes, the public drinking and womanizing would definitely have been picked up by the media - unless the club was so private and the its members were very tight lipped. I don't think there is any club that private.

Or perhaps the writers wanted to paint the commissioner as someone so bold he could not have cared or thinks he is so important that no one would mention his drinking and the media would ignore it if someone did.

Regardless, it seems to me that in all Columbos the writers want to establish something about the murderer victim right away so we are ether sympathetic to them or disgusted by them from the start. In this case they wanted to establish right off that he was not the most admirable person in the world, or just a bit to bold.