#Fade in to murder columbo tv

When Janie uses it as an ashtray, Columbo knows she has no idea what it is, so she could not possibly have had a hand in its theft.

Columbo takes the buckle to Janie's prison cell. When Ruth realizes Columbo has not fallen for the staged robbery, she tries to frame Janie for involvement in the crimes.įinal clue/twist: Ruth plants an ancient belt buckle in Janie's room to frame her, and Janie is arrested for the murders. She then plants guns on both men to make it look like they killed each other. But her real goal is revealed when she double-crosses Milton during the robbery, and shoots him dead, then kills Edward when he comes to investigate the gunshot. Ruth enlists Milton Schaeffer (Peter Feibleman), an ex-con who works as a guard at the museum, and whose brother Tim is having an affair with Janie, in a complex plot where Milton will steal some artifacts from the museum, fake his own death, and then flee the country while Ruth collects the insurance money. Ruth and Edward's sister (and Janie's mother) Phyllis Brandt ( Celeste Holm) is a checked-out alcoholic who is likely to go along with Edward's decision. Her brother Edward ( Tim O'Connor) is not nearly as dedicated to the family business as Ruth is in fact, he plans to close the museum and sell the building, as it's been losing money for years. Ruth Lytton ( Joyce Van Patten) has dedicated her life to the museum, never marrying and having no children, although her niece Janie ( Jeannie Berlin) is as close to her as a daughter. The Lytton family owns and operates an antiquities museum. Feibleman as Milton Schaeffer and Tim O'Connor as Edward Lytton The mechanical shark 'Bruce' from Jaws makes a cameo as himself. Walter Koenig guest stars as a police sergeant.

Molly, Mr Daley's secretary, is played by Shera Danese, who would eventually marry star Peter Falk. There are no fingerprints on the murder weapon, but Fowler left his fingerprints on the remaining live bullets inside the revolver's chamber. He begins stepping in and out of character to 'assist' Columbo with the investigation.įinal clue/twist: After Columbo has shaken Fowler's alibi, he confronts him with his biggest mistake. After Fowler knocks the proprietor unconscious and takes Claire's money, he shoots her dead, then ditches the gun and mask. Fowler drugs a friend staying at his house watching a baseball game, puts it on tape delay, then dons a ski mask and pretends to rob a delicatessen where Claire is shopping.

#Fade in to murder columbo tv

The season was released on DVD by Universal Studios Home Entertainment along with season seven, under its Universal Classic Television classic TV entertainment programming series.Įgocentric actor Ward Fowler ( William Shatner), who portrays Detective Lucerne on a weekly TV show, is being blackmailed by his producer and ex-paramour, Claire Daley ( Lola Albright), over the fact that he was a deserter in the Korean War. The season originally aired Sundays at 8:00–9:30 pm (EST) as part of The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie.