PLOT:
Chef Paul Gerard has murder on his mind when he realises that fellow chef Vitorri Rossi is going to expose him as embezzling the Restaurant Developers Association, which Vitorri has paid money. He has devised the perfect murder, or so it seems. Gerard has put a rare form of blow fish poison into the capsule in the bottle opener. He and Vittori eat their meal and Vittori is furious as Gerard and says he will expose him. Gerard remains calm and leaves early before the wine is opened. Then, shortly after he has left, Vittori opens the wine and seconds later collapses on the floor dead. The Police contact Gerard and he is told to come to the restaurant. Columbo is waiting for him there and one of the first questions he asks him is "did you come directly here when we contacted you?" to which Gerard replies yes. Little does he know that in his opening question, Columbo has worked out that Gerard is the murderer. He begins to try and work out how Gerard did it, which proves more difficult. Vittorio's nephew chose the bottle at random from the wine cellar and the bottle had not been opened when Gerard left. Gerard suggests that the poison must have got in where the wine was bottled and Columbo suggests that Vittori may have wanted to poison Gerard and inadvertently taken the poison himself. Gerard is keen to agree with Columbo but he has fallen into a trap. Columbo asks why Vittori would want to kill him. Gerard says he can't imagine. Columbo does his usual routine of turning up around the victim all the time. While at the restaurant he sees the chef throw away the old capsule and put a fresh one in. Shortly afterwards Columbo realises the poison was administered in the capsule. However, he is puzzled when the next day he goes to use open a bottle and the capsule is empty. How could this be, as the capsule was full the previous day and no one had used it since? Columbo realises the killer (aka Gerard) must have switched the capsules, not realising the chef had already destroyed the damning evidence. Columbo has realised what Gerard was up to with embezzling the Restaurant Developers Association when he questions Gerard's girlfriend Eve Plummer (Shera Danese Falk), who was the only person with access to the bank account (under an assumed name.) However, he still has not got evidence that he killed Vittori. Gerard realises that Columbo is on to him and when Columbo suggests that the two have a meal together at Vittorio's restaurant (it still hasn't been opened since the owner's death) Gerard jumps at the chance. He prepares the blow fish poison and places it into a capsule. Then he arrives at the restaurant, where Columbo is busy preparing the meal and wearing a chef's hat! Gerard pours his wine out of the open bottle and then switches bottle openers and pours Columbo's wine from the fresh poisoned bottle. They sit down to dinner and Columbo begins to explain that he knows Gerard did it. Gerard watches keenly as he sees Columbo drink the contents of his glass. He awaits Columbo's demise and is about to drink from his glass when Columbo says "I wouldn't do that". Columbo then reveals that he had switched the glasses so Gerard had the poisoned one. He now has the proof he needed of Gerard's guilt. Gerard is still calm but it is noticeable how disappointed he is. He asks Columbo when he first suspected him and is surprised when Columbo replies "about two minutes after I met you". Gerard says "that's impossible", but Columbo explains. He says that the fact Gerard had heard that the man he had just eaten a meal with had been poisoned and yet came direct to the restaurant showed he was guilty. Surely the natural reaction would be to rush to a hospital to check that he hadn't been poisoned himself. Gerard looks even more put out and says "you are a very able man, Lieutenant, but I do not care for you much", to which Columbo replies "I was thinking exactly the same thing about you. I respect your talent, but there's not a whole lot else I like about you".
VERDICT: Great French actor Louis Jourdan is brilliant as the slimy Gerard. It is clear from early on that he is irritated by Columbo's frequent visits, though he always puts on a friendly persona when speaking to him. It is clear also that Columbo is not over fond of Gerard. The final scene is brilliant, one of the finest scenes in the entire series. These two excellent actors gel really well, and when the two admit their dislike for each other this is the coupe de grace. Jourdan has the unique distinction of playing a Columbo villain, a Bond villain (in Octopussy) and Count Dracula (in a UK television adaptation in 1977) and always shined playing nasty characters.
Written by Mark Wilson
(C) Copyright Wilson/Young Enterprises 2006.
CAST:
Paul Gerard..........Louis Jourdan
Eve Plummer...........Shera Danese
Max Duvall..........Richard Dysart
Vittorio Rossi.....Michael V Gazzo
Mary Choy.............France Nuyen
Mr. Ozu.......................Mako
Albert................Larry D Mann
Mario Deluca...........Antony Alda
