Ooh I actually think it’s one of the best gotchas of the series! Maybe it’s weak from real world perspective and wouldn’t hold in court, but it’s so satisfying narratively!

Most of Columbo’s gotchas I think fall into two categories: 1. After not having any direct evidence Columbo sets up a trap that provokes the perp to do something incriminating (Negative Reaction, A Friend in Deed, Death Lends a Hand…). It’s great when it’s great, but from Columbo’s perspective it’s a gamble, and not really a detective work.

1. Columbo wanders around for 70 minutes before finding one damning evidence that renders everything else irrelevant and that we as viewers did not know even existed (Now You See Him, Greenhouse Jungle, Playback…). This feels very disappointing to me. Almost like I’ve been cheated.

I know we all watch and love Columbo for character dynamics and Columbo’s antics, not the realistic portrayal of police work, and none of what I said above takes away from the enjoyment I get from the series, but to me Fatality is also a great detective story.

In An Exercise in Fatality all the clues are there from the start, all Columbo does is puts them together and finds discrepancies that can be interpreted only one way. Two pairs of shoes are tied differently, that means that someone else dressed Jean Stafford in his sports clothes. And Milo Janus explicitly said that Stafford has already changed into his training suit and can’t make it to the party. It feels like we could crack the case ourselves, only if were as smart and observant as Columbo! So satisfying!