Egocentric actor Ward Fowler, who portrays Detective Lucerne on a weekly TV show, is being blackmailed by his producer and ex-paramour, Claire Daley, over the fact that he was a deserter in the Korean War. 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. After Fowler knocks the proprietor unconscious and takes Claire's money, he shoots her dead, then ditches the gun and mask. He begins stepping in and out of character to "assist" Columbo with the investigation. Final clue/twist: After Columbo has shaken Fowler's alibi, he confronts him with his biggest mistake. There are no fingerprints on the murder weapon, but Fowler left his fingerprints on the remaining live bullets inside the revolver's chamber. Molly, Mr Daley's secretary, is played by Shera Danese, who would eventually marry star Peter Falk. Walter Koenig guest stars as a police sergeant. The mechanical shark "Bruce" from Jaws makes a cameo as himself. Directed by: Bernard L. Kowalski. Story by: Henry Garson, Lou Shaw and Peter Feibleman.