History Headscratchers / Columbo

* Columbo is Droopy Dog with a police badge. He'll just keep at it until the murderer goes mad and confesses just to get some peace and quiet. It can be a bit of a headscratcher how the bad guys consistently trip up just from annoyance when their livelihood is on the line. But to be fair, some villains are more patient with more proof against them.
* As much as I liked the show, the part that always bugged me was how Columbo would gather evidence and carry it around with him as if it would still be admissable. I think it would be incredibly hard to classify something as evidence if he found it one day and didn't turn it in until three or four days later, while carrying it around in his pocket all that time.

** This one seems like Paul Hanlon (the manager) did it out of disliking how Eric Wagner (the owner) was acting as a poor owner of the company by spending a lot of time binging, partying and laying around. He might have done it partly ForTheEvulz may as he seems to have little respect for him, but supposedly he planned to take advantage of the ownership vacuum left by Eric's death. However there can be the impression of a MissingStepsPlan with Paul. Interestingly, Jarvis in the previous episode kills his nephew for similar petty reasons, unable to stand the idea of him squandering his portion of the ransom money on his wife.

** This one seems like Paul Hanlon (the manager) did it out of disliking how Eric Wagner (the owner) was acting as a poor owner of the company by spending a lot of time binging, partying and laying around. He might have done it partly ForTheEvulz may as he seems to have little respect for him, but supposedly he planned to take advantage of the ownership vacuum left by Eric's death. Interestingly, Jarvis in the previous episode kills his nephew for similar reasons, unable to stand the idea of him squandering his portion of the ransom money on his wife.

** This one seems like Paul Hanlon (the manager) did it out of disliking how Eric Wagner (the owmer) was acting as a poor owner of the company by spending a lot of time binging, partying and laying around. He might have done it partly ForTheEvulz may as he seems to have little respect for him, but supposedly he planned to take advantage of the ownership vacuum left by Eric's death. Interestingly, Jarvis in the previous episode kills his nephew for similar reasons, unable to stand the idea of him squandering his portion of the ransom money on his wife.

* What was the motive in "The Most Crucial Game"? The team manager kills the team owner because...? All we seem to know beforehand is that the manager is setting up the owner with various women behind the owner's wife's back, and the owner's attorney planet bugs to try and catch proof of this but got nothing whatsoever to prove anything(at most a single implication out of numerous phone recordings). I also don't get the 2:30 PM phone chime(the one piece of evidence- or lack thereof- that blows the manager's alibi from a phone recording). This one seems to lack any explanations for much of what we see.

** At the time Dr. Mayfield comes up with the plan involving dissolving suture, he's not expecting there to be an autopsy. Autopsies aren't necessarily performed automatically upon someone dying, they're usually only conducted if the person dies under obviously suspicious circumstances requiring investigation (apparent homicides, suicides, other such sudden unexplained deaths and so on) or if the victim's family otherwise requests one. Since Dr. Hidemann is well-known to have an existing heart condition and no one (at that point at least) suspects Dr. Mayfield of having any reason to murder him, Dr. Mayfield is initially banking on no one finding the circumstances around Dr. Hidemann's death to be suspicious or unexpected enough to require an autopsy. As far as Mayfield believes, it would just be assumed that Dr. Hidemann simply died of his pre-existing condition and the surgery wasn't enough to save him. Unexpected and unfortunate, perhaps, but not uncommon or unusual; heart surgeries don't always work. The whole reason his scheme gets foiled is because he has to murder the nurse who discovers his plot, which brings in Columbo, who discovers the reasons why Mayfield might want Hidemann dead, which means he's likely to request that the coroner orders an autopsy to be performed if anything happens to Hidemann, which means that Mayfield's scheme is likely to be exposed.

** Wesley was trying to frame Lydia for Adam Evans's death, remember. He planted the digitalis in Adam's drink to make it look like Lydia poisoned him. It's likely the reason David agreed to help Wesley get rid of the body was because he was afraid of the attention they'd be getting from the tabloids, not knowing Wesley's motives.

** I don't remember the specifics of the episode, but assuming the damage was cosmetic Collier could have had it quickly repaired before Columbo managed to investigate it.

** If memory serves, at the time Dr. Mayfield comes up with the plan involving dissolving suture, he's not expecting there to be an autopsy. Autopsies aren't necessarily performed automatically upon someone dying, they're usually only conducted if the person dies under obviously suspicious circumstances requiring investigation (apparent homicides, suicides, other such sudden unexplained deaths and so on) or if the victim's family otherwise requests one. Since Dr. Hidemann is well-known to have an existing heart condition and no one (at that point at least) suspects Dr. Mayfield of having any reason to murder him, Dr. Mayfield is initially banking on no one finding the circumstances around Dr. Hideman's death to be suspicious or unexpected enough to require an autopsy. As far as Mayfield believes, it would just be assumed that Dr. Hidemann simply died of his pre-existing condition and the surgery wasn't enough to save him. Unexpected and unfortunate, perhaps, but not uncommon or unusual; heart surgeries don't always work. The whole reason his scheme gets foiled is because he has to murder the nurse who discovers his plot, which brings in Columbo, who discovers the reasons why Mayfield might want Hidemann dead, which means he's likely to request that the coroner orders an autopsy to be performed if anything happens to Hidemann, which means that Mayfield's scheme is likely to be exposed.

* In "Uneasy Lies The Crown", Wesley Corman and David Sherwin find a dead man, appearently because a heart attack, in Wesley's property. Instead of calling 911, they move the corpse, put it on a car, and push the car off a cliff so it would look as a car accident, and no one would know that the man had been in Wesley's house. When Columbo confronts them about moving the body, they both confess. Columbo just thanks them and proceeds his investigation. Shouldn't he have had them arrested for obstruction to the justice and, maybe, body desecration? At the end, Wesley Corman is found guilty of murder, but David Sherwin, even if he was unaware that Wesley was the murderer, consciously and willingly tried to manipulate evidences. However he does seem to simply get way with it.

** We should also remember the whole point of the series. The point isn't to see the criminals going through the court system to a conviction or not ''al la'' ''Series/LawAndOrder'' or something; it's simply to see how Columbo is going to figure out how the murderer committed the crime and what flaws are going to trip them up. Look at it this way; we don't need to see a conviction because we already ''know'' that this person is the murderer. Whether they get convicted or not, we have clear evidence that the person is the murderer because we've ''seen'' them do it. But the murderer is always convinced that no one will ever figure out how they did it, that they've committed a flawless, fool-proof crime that no one could ever possibly figure out or link to them. When Columbo does, whether they're ultimately convicted or not, they'll now have to live with the fact that their so-called perfect murder wasn't anything of the kind and at least one other person knows full well that they're a murdering scumbag, and to add insult to injury it's the scruffy little nobody they were convinced was a complete dimwit. Given what egotistical blowhards a lot of these murderers are, that has to chafe just a little bit.

** Also, it's fiction. RuleOfDrama, guys and girls. It's simply a way of giving the story we've just seen a reasonably satisfying ending.

** If memory serves, at the time Dr. Mayfield comes up with the plan involving dissolving suture, he's not expecting there to be an autopsy. Autopsies aren't necessarily performed automatically upon someone dying, they're usually only conducted if the person dies under obviously suspicious circumstances requiring investigation (homicide, sudden unexplained death, etc.) or if the victim's family otherwise requests one. Since Dr. Hidemann is well-known to have an existing heart condition and no one (at that point at least) suspects Dr. Mayfield of having any reason to murder him, Dr. Mayfield is initially banking on no one finding the circumstances around Dr. Hideman's death to be suspicious or unexpected enough to require an autopsy. As far as Mayfield believes, it would just be assumed that Dr. Hidemann simply died of his pre-existing condition and the surgery wasn't enough to save him. Unexpected and unfortunate, perhaps, but not uncommon or unusual; heart surgeries don't always work. The whole reason his scheme gets foiled is because he has to murder the nurse who discovers his plot, which brings in Columbo, who discovers the reasons why Mayfield might want Hidemann dead, which means he's likely to request the coroner order an autopsy to be performed if anything happens to Hidemann, which means that Mayfield's scheme is likely to be exposed.

* Don't you think that by the fifth or so time that Columbo pulled that [[Main/ObfuscatingStupidity ObfuscatingStupidity]] nonsense that news about it would start getting around the underworld?

** Most of the people we see Columbo tangling with were hardly in a position to get the word from the underworld, to be fair. Its not like Dr. Rich Smugasshole, Beverly Hills plastic surgeon to the stars, is necessarily going to be getting weekly updates from Gus Streetthug, goon for hire, on police strategy and which lieutenants he should avoid being assigned to the intricate murder he's planning.

** Most of the people we see Columbo tangling with were hardly in a position to get the word from the underworld, to be fair. Its not like Dr. Rich Smugasshole, Beverly Hills plastic surgeon to the stars, is necessarily going to be getting weekly updates on police strategy from Joe Streetthug.

** If memory serves, at the time Dr. Mayfield comes up with the plan involving dissolving suture, he's not expecting there to be an autopsy. Autopsies aren't necessarily performed automatically upon someone dying, they're usually only conducted if the person dies under obviously suspicious circumstances requiring investigation (homicide, sudden unexplained death, etc.) or if the victim's family otherwise requests one. Since Dr. Hidemann is well-known to have an existing heart condition and no one (at that point at least) suspects Dr. Mayfield of having any reason to murder him, Dr. Mayfield is initially banking on no one finding the circumstances around Dr. Hideman's death to be suspicious enough to require an autopsy. As far as Mayfield believes, it would just be assumed that Dr. Hidemann simply died of his pre-existing condition and the surgery wasn't enough to save him. Unexpected and unfortunate, perhaps, but not uncommon or unusual; heart surgeries don't always work. The whole reason his scheme gets foiled is because he has to murder the nurse who discovers his plot, which brings in Columbo, who discovers the reasons why Mayfield might want Hidemann dead, which means he's likely to request the coroner order an autopsy to be performed if anything happens to Hidemann, which means that Mayfield's scheme is likely to be exposed.

** If memory serves, at the time Dr. Mayfield comes up with the plan involving dissolving suture, he's not expecting there to be an autopsy. Autopsies generally aren't performed automatically upon someone dying, they're usually only conducted if the person dies under obviously suspicious circumstances or if the victim's family otherwise requests one, and since Dr. Hidemann is well-known to have an existing heart condition and no one (at that point at least) suspects Dr. Mayfield of having any reason to murder him, Dr. Mayfield is initially banking on no one finding the circumstances around Dr. Hideman's death to be suspicious enough to require an autopsy. As far as Mayfield believes, it would just be assumed that Dr. Hidemann simply died of his pre-existing condition and the surgery wasn't enough to save him. Unexpected and unfortunate, perhaps, but not uncommon or unusual; heart surgeries don't always work. The whole reason his scheme gets foiled is because he has to murder the nurse who discovers his plot, which brings in Columbo, who discovers the reasons why Mayfield might want Hidemann dead, which means an autopsy is likely to be conducted if anything happens to Hidemann, which means that Mayfield's scheme is likely to be exposed.

** If memory serves, at the time Dr. Mayfield comes up with the plan involving dissolving suture, he's not expecting there to be an autopsy. Autopsies generally aren't performed automatically upon someone dying, they're usually only conducted if the person dies under suspicious circumstances, and since Dr. Hidemann is well-known to have an existing heart condition and no one (at that point at least) suspects Dr. Mayfield of having any reason to murder him, Dr. Mayfield is initially banking on no one finding the circumstances around Dr. Hideman's death to be suspicious enough to require an autopsy. As far as Mayfield believes, it would just be assumed that Dr. Hidemann simply died of his pre-existing condition and the surgery wasn't enough to save him. Unexpected and unfortunate, perhaps, but not uncommon or unusual; heart surgeries don't always work. The whole reason his scheme gets foiled is because he has to murder the nurse who discovers his plot, which brings in Columbo, who discovers the reasons why Mayfield might want Hidemann dead, which means an autopsy is likely to be conducted if anything happens to Hidemann, which means that Mayfield's scheme is likely to be exposed.

** Besides in this particular story, the confession played off the play that was being preformed by the couple ("Out out damned spot").

** If memory serves, at the time Dr. Mayfield comes up with the plan involving dissolving suture, he's not expecting there to be an autopsy. Autopsies generally aren't performed automatically upon someone dying, they're usually only conducted if the person dies under suspicious circumstances, and since Dr. Hidemann is well-known to have an existing heart condition and no one (at that point at least) suspects Dr. Mayfield of having any reason to murder him, Dr. Mayfield is initially banking on no one finding the circumstances around Dr. Hideman's death to be suspicious enough to require an autopsy. As far as Mayfield believes, it would just be assumed that Dr. Hidemann simply died of his pre-existing condition and the surgery wasn't enough to save him. Unexpected and unfortunate, perhaps, but not uncommon or unusual; heart surgeries don't always work. The whole reason his scheme gets foiled is because he first murders the nurse who discovers his corruption, which brings in Columbo, who discovers the reasons why Mayfield might want Hidemann dead, which means an autopsy is likely to be conducted if anything happens to Hidemann, which means that Mayfield's scheme is likely to be exposed.