PLOT: This episode is set in a foreign embassy. First minister Hassan Salah has murdered the head of security Youseff Alafa. He made it look as if Alafa was working for a rebel organisation that was trying to overthrow the king. In actual fact the King, unlike Alafa, is not a traditionalist. The rebel organisation is not trying to get rid of the King, but Alafa and his cronies instead. After clubbing Alafa over the head with a statue Salah leaves his accomplice Rachmann Habib with the body. Salah then leaves for the Police department, where he attends a security briefing about the King's forthcoming visit. While he is there he makes a phone call to the Embassy and speaks to Habib, pretending that it actually Alafa he is talking to. Then Habib drives out of the gate at high speed, smashing it to smithereens. The guard on the gate goes to fire his gun but there are no bullets in it! Columbo is called in to investigate the murder. Salah has the perfect alibi- Columbo himself, who had been at the meeting. However, some things puzzle Columbo. The guard had no bullets in his gun and the only man who had keys to the arms room was Salah. He also finds out that the rebels parading outside the Embassy are actually campaigning to get rid of Salah, not the King, as Salah set it up to look like. Then Salah leavse the Embassy through a secret entrance and meets Habib in a secluded spot. He then murders him and puts a pair of glasses on him, as his passport requires him to wear spectacles. He then pushes Habib's car off a cliff to make it look like an accident. Columbo is puzzled though, as Habib had been wearing contact lenses as well as the glasses when he died, making Columbo think it must have been murder. When the King arrives for his visit Salah puts on an act of dutiful servant but it is obvious the two are poles apart. Salah is anxious to keep the King clear of the murder and tries to keep the ever-present Columbo and the King apart. However, the King and Columbo hit it off, much to Salah's annoyance. He contacts the Police, pulls a few strings and Columbo is banned from the Embassy. Salah is relieved when he sees the King's plane take off back to his country. Then Columbo shows up at the gates of the Embassy. He claims he is very sorry for making a nuisance of himself and that he has an apology. He asks Salah if he can be allowed in to give it to him. Salah agrees. Columbo then gives him the apology and does his "I have to congratulate you Sir, you beat me" speech (similar to the one he uses in A Stitch in crime). Salah is relieved to know Columbo has given up on the case. However, then the King enters the room. He had not been on the plane after all. He is convinced by Columbo's arguments and says that Salah will face justice back in his country. Salah is scared by this prospect, as it will mean death, so he begs Columbo to arrest him. He says he will renounce his immunity from prosecution and give Columbo a signed statement of guilt. Columbo thinks about it and asks the King what he thinks. The King agrees to abide by Columbo's decision so Columbo agrees that Salah can be subjected to US law.
VERDICT: Hector Elizondo is well cast as Salah and the episode is good. Salah made few mistakes and in the end Columbo relied on forcing Salah into signing a confession. The key to it all was the King. Columbo knew that Salah had immunity from prosecution but that the King had the power to arrest him and bring him to justice in his own land. Therefore he had to persuade the King of Salah's guilt. The irony is that had the King run a country with a court system similar to the US, Columbo would have failed in the case. The country itself was fictitious.
