Publisher Riley Greenleaf (Jack Cassidy) decides to kill his prolific author Alan Mallory (Mickey Spillane), for the insurance and also to keep him from defecting to another publisher. He hires ex-soldier and avid homemade bomb enthusiast Eddie Kane (John Chandler) to do the job. While Greenleaf is getting drunk at a nearby bar, Kane walks into Mallory's office and shoots him. To cover his tracks, Greenleaf then kills Kane with one of his own bombs, making it look like an accident. Columbo must discover the link between the two crimes.
Cast[]
- Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo.
- Jack Cassidy as Riley Greenleaf.
- John Davis Chandler as Eddie Kane.
- Mickey Spillane as EAlan Mallory.
- Mariette Hartley as Eileen McRae.
- Jacques Aubuchon as Jeffrey Neal.
- Jack Bender as Norman Wolpert.
- Alan Fudge as David Chase.
- George Brenlin as Mr. Black.
- Paul Shenar as Sergeant Young.
- James Millhollin and Maryesther Davis as Mr. and Mrs. Morgan.
Clue[]
Final clue/twist: Greenleaf hands over an old synopsis to Columbo, claiming it was Kane’s, which allegedly proves that Kane had the idea for Mallory's latest book, and murdered him out of revenge for Mallory's having stolen it. Columbo finds out, however, that the ending of the book was actually developed very shortly before the murder, by Mallory and his assistant (played by Mariette Hartley), to make sure the book was more appealing for a Hollywood film adaptation. Kane could not have known the new ending, so the synopsis must have been done by Greenleaf.
Trivia[]
This episode has a split screen of Greenleaf's alibi and Mallory's murder. Mariette Hartley's role is similar to the one she played in Season 7's "Try and Catch Me". Spillane was the real-life author of Mike Hammer detective mysteries.
| Columbo (season 3) |
|---|
| 1."Lovely But Lethal" 2."Any Old Port in a Storm" 3."Candidate for Crime" 4."Double Exposure" 5."Publish or Perish" 6."Mind Over Mayhem" 7."Swan Song" 8."A Friend in Deed" |