Extra Information

Synopsis

Lt. Columbo cleverly coerces Wayne Jennings, a philandering gigolo and
tennis pro, into confessing to the murder of America's favorite romance
novelist, Teresa Goren. Teresa died the same night that she announced,
on television, to marry Wayne. The autopsy reveals that the victim was
already dead from a gunshot wound to the head when the confessed killer
"murdered" her, and a perplexed Columbo is forced to look at other
suspects. Once Wayne is released from police custody, as there is no
crime in shooting a dead body, Columbo asks Wayne to help him find
Teresa's killer. Complicating the matter is Teresa's Sister, Jess McCurdy, a successful woman who managed her sister's book career. Columbo
is fascinated with Jess' obvious hatred for Wayne and jealousy because
of Wayne's relationship with her sister. Apparently, she had gone to
the extent of hiring a detective so that she could present her sister
with evidence as to Wayne's womanizing behavior. Columbo is still
convinced of Jess' innocence, despite the fact that she is sole beneficiary to Teresa's wealth.

Lt. Schultz and several policemen comb the beach and find the initial
murder weapon. The photo of Teresa's body taken at the crime scene
bothers Columbo, and he checks out the articles of clothing she was
wearing. Meanwhile, Wayne is successful in seducing Jess and promises
to make her over into a new woman. Columbo races to Jess' house and
finds out that she and Wayne have left to go shopping. When Columbo
enters the store, Wayne becomes very protective of Jess. However,
Columbo warns Wayne that he doesn't want Jess to be hurt because of
the fact that Wayne did murder Teresa... not once but twice. Columbo
determines that a phone call Wayne made to his accountant to cover
himself, was in actuality made near Teresa's home. Wayne planned to
kill Teresa and then drive back to Palm Springs for the tennis tournament.
However, his plans changed when the cable repairmen arrived at the
house, and Wayne realized they would notice him leaving. Wayne had to
stay in the house until daylight, and then he shot Teresa a second time
with a different gun knowing that if he got caught and did confess, no one would ever guess that he actually shot Teresa twice.
After reviewing Teresa's articles of clothing, Columbo found that
Wayne made a mistake in dressing Teresa after he shot her. Wayne had
put Teresa's underpants on backwards, and the tag can be readily seen
in the photograph. Jess is appalled and sickened, and she begins to hit
Wayne. The plainclothesmen pull them apart, taking Wayne into custody.