A little strange episode for me. With some special atmosphere. I never liked it but lately I'm trying to force myself to like it more. And maybe I succeed :)
Not so much to write about it (and maybe that is one of the reasons why I don't like it so much) but:
- the scene when the guard is smoking and throw the cigarette (the butt :P) on the ground is shown twice :)
- "the day you forget the inventory, I'll forget the cocktail party" <--- good one
- the sister of Ruth, one of the most far-fetched and annoying characters ever in Columbo
- it seems like all the killers in Columbo are marksman. Ruth didn't have any problem with shooting both victims straight into heart from a distance :)
- the reaction of Janie after seeing the bodies, very strange
- "my watch cost $30, and his is wrong. Lieutenant, it is 1st of May.... oh, well, what do you expect for $30"? I really like this conversation :)
- how did Columbo know that Darryl was a hairdresser of the victim?
- a little strange when you think about it... Ruth told Mr Schaffer that they are going to do it "tonight". Looks like the day was almost finished. And in the meantime he managed to go to the watch store, spoke with a clerk for half an hour (that's what he said), buy new clothes, arrange and make vaccination... A lot of stuff he managed in just couple of hours!
- that's a detail but bothers me: the watch store clerk tells Columbo about watch that it is set for 31 days month, and if it is not, then you have to reset it. Columbo has his watch, I guess he would have know a lot earlier that it shows wrong date, knowing that it happen every second month..
- I can never understand why Ruth wanted to frame Janie, makes no sense for me... but, who knows what is in killer's mind

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.