Original subtitles

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(POUNDING DANCE MUSIC)

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Very nice, it's very nice. Yeah?

Eight years I've had this place in my head.

I can tell.

What's with the hole, though?

We couldn't call it the Bait and have no fish.

So, it's a fish tank? Yeah.

300 gallons of water in there, lit from underneath, it'll look good.

When are you opening up? That depends.

Depends on what?

The money. The money? You're waiting, right?

Look, I've got to tell you, Tone,

I've been coming up short,

well, for the last two months now.

I mean, half this place is paid for on credit and...

before I open those doors I really need to pay some bills.

Well, then, you'll be very happy to know it's all been arranged.

No joke? No, no joke.

You'll have the money within 36 hours.

Aw, man... You're not kidding with me?

I'm there. Oh, man, that's insane.

Do business with the best, that's what my father taught me.

You are not going to be disappointed. Please don't.

I've got to go.

Maybe I'll make that warehouse gig you're promoting tonight.

OK. Excellent.

Knock it out. Fish!

(KNOCKING)

Hey, baby. You don't look so happy to see me.

What do you want, Tony? I was in the neighbourhood,

I figured I'd stop by and, uh, see how you're spending your alimony.

I bought this place with my money, thank you very much.

Maybe so, but without my money you wouldn't be able to keep it,

cos that sitcom of yours got cancelled after only six episodes.

What a shame.

Tony, I want you to leave.

Here's the pool.

I figured I'd come by, you know,

catch up on some old times.

Look at you! How long's it been?

Gosh, it's been at least, what, six months, huh?

Stop it!

Oh, you're so sweet. Look at you.

So beautiful.

Mm-mm-mm!

What the hell is this? What, does this come with a frame now, or what?

Give it back to me. Don't tell me you're sleeping with this kid.

That's none of your business. It has nothing to do with you, Tony, OK?

This has nothing to do with me?!

This has nothing to do with me?!

You met him through a singles ad, is that it?

Please, Tony, just leave, OK? You went after him.

You set your sights just to spite me. I didn't.

Look, didn't you? Tell me right now, you little whore! Stop it.

(SCREAMS) Tell me!

Tony, get up!

Tony.

Tony?

Tony!

Tony!

It's me. Something's happened.

You need to come over here right now.

No, I'm telling you, you have to come over here right now!

Ness?

Where's Tony?

Babe, what's wrong?

He...

Erm, he just saw a picture of us,

and I told you how jealous he could be.

And he just tripped and fell. I pushed him away.

He was so angry I didn't know what he was going to do.

(SNIFFING)

(BREATHING HEAVILY)

Have you called the police? No.

No, I can't. You don't understand, those people will kill me.

It's all right, babe, it's OK.

We're not going to call them. Look at me, we're not going to call them.

I don't want to call them, either,

because in 36 hours...his investment money's going to hit my bank account, right?

Now, if this gets out, I am finished.

Do you understand me? I am finished.

So for 36 hours, this is what we'll do.

We're just going to pretend, make it look like he's still kicking about town, that's all,

and nobody has to know, nobody.

But I will need you 100% on this.

What do we have to do?

(MOBILE PHONE RINGS)

Hello.

Yes, Justin Price.

Fantastic.

No, that's excellent.

Yeah, yeah, thank you very much.

Bye-bye.

(MOBILE PHONE RINGING) Hello.

Babe, it's me. I got the money. OK.

It's time for Tony to check out.

OK, I'll meet you in an hour outside the car rental lot. Don't be late.

Bye.

Yeah, this is Tony Galper in 803.

Yeah, I'd like to check out this morning.

Yeah, I believe everything is in order, so erm,

I'll just leave the key card on the table.

All right.

Thanks very much.

(MOBILE PHONE RINGING)

Hello. Hello?

Did you really think you were going to get away with it?

I know what you did.

Where did you put the body, Vanessa?

(GASPS)

(MOBILE PHONE RINGING)

Hi. Oh, my God, Justin, somebody just called me.

What? Some guy just called me -

Babe, slow down, slow down, slow down.

Who called you?

Some guy, I don't know. You didn't tell anybody, did you?

Course not. What did he say?

Somebody just said that he knows what we did.

Justin?

I think he just emailed me.

What? I'll call you back.

No, no! I'll call you back.

He's got pictures.

Pictures? Oh, my God, how?

I don't know.

Well, what are we going to do?

He wants money. How much?

I'll meet him tonight to find out.

OK, so we give him the money and then we get the pictures, right?

Sweetie, isn't that the idea? Yeah, that's the idea.

In Fantasyland.

Babe. Babe, babe, babe, think about it, OK?

Now, whatever it is...

..however much he wants,

what then?

What, he's just going to walk away and forget about it?

No.

(We could give this guy all the money in the world,

we'd still be on the hook with him.)

Now, we've come this far, OK?

Together.

And we obviously can't turn back.

(But we can't have this guy walking around knowing what we've done, can we?)

(Can we?)

(No.)

# Wow

# Sweet and cool

# Wow

# Sweet and cool

# When we get together it's a wild thing... #

It's going to be a big night tonight. Shut up, Julius.

It's been a few months.

I can't say I've been counting.

Ah, you're upset.

Look, I know, I understand.

I didn't mean to get you mixed up in this mess.

You just happened to be there.

Wrong place, wrong time, you know?

Your girlfriend know you and I go back - Just cut through this.

Show me what you got, tell me how much you want.

OK. Sure, yeah.

But it's strictly business.

No hard feelings, right?

I bet tables were turned, you'd do the same thing. How much?

250.

That's a lot of money. Pictures like these...

they're worth a lot more than that.

You'll see.

How bad are you into your bookie?

I'm clearing some off the top for myself.

I look at it like this is my lottery ticket. My chance to get square.

I can't get 250.

Business is good, Justin.

Hey, what's cover tonight? 20, 30 bucks a pop?

That's just a sample.

(EXHALES)

(SIREN IN DISTANCE)

I'll see what I can do.

Yeah, I don't leave you much choice.

No, you don't.

I'll meet you in the office in two hours.

Hey!

Bring one of your girls like you used to.

I'll show her a good time.

(RINGING TONE) Hello.

Yeah, it's me.

Did you see the pictures?

Yeah. And?

Ness, this is the only way.

(TRIMMER BUZZING)

(TRIMMER OFF)

(NOISY SLOSHING)

(GARGLING)

(KNOCKING AT DOOR)

Prompt as always.

Nice shirt. Hey, thanks.

Where's the girl? What's the matter, don't you trust me?

Ah, you know I do. Justin, Justin...

She's downstairs. I told her to wait in the car until we've sorted this out.

(POUNDING MUSIC FROM 4x4)

Do you want a drink? No, I want the negs.

Of course, of course.

All there? What's the matter, you don't trust me?

Of course I do.

You've got a nice place here. Hey, thanks.

I do what I can.

Hey! Hey, what the hell is this?

(GASP)

(GASPING)

(BEEPING)

(RAPID TYPING)

(GROANS)

(SCREAMS)

(CLATTER)

Let's go.

Where were you? I was paging you. My battery must be dead.

Are you the organiser? Yeah, Justin Price. Sorry it took so long.

Kid had a seizure. Probably just dehydrated. He'll be fine.

Oh, good. That's good news.

Need you to sign some forms.

Underage kid, and all. Oh, yeah, sure, sure, sure.

Busy night? Not so bad.

Not yet. Oh, that's good.

Hope it stays that way, right? Mm-hm.

Have a good one. Thank you.

(CAR SOUNDING ROUGH)

Where's he going?

(GEARS GRIND)

(BRAKES SQUEAK)

(ENGINE CLATTERS TO STOP)

(DOOR SQUEAKS)

Morning, sir. Any more of that coffee around?

Harris, coffee for the Lieutenant.

Two sugars. Two sugars!

You got it! Thanks!

We got a call about 2:30 this morning. Lady reported a loud noise.

Like a car crash, but couldn't be sure.

Sent a unit, but they didn't find anything.

Maybe four hours later, the sun comes up and this homeless guy over here -

Here you are, Lieutenant. Oh, much appreciated.

This homeless guy, he's the one who finally called it in. Mmm!

He wakes up out of it and finds the body

lying just a few feet away from him.

Says he never heard a thing. We got a suicide note?

Yes, sir, upstairs in the office.

He tied this rope around the radiator, jumped from the fourth storey.

Only thing is, this guy goes a good 250.

Force of the fall ripped the damn thing right out of the floor.

Do we know whose car this is? No, sir.

See if you can find out. Just curious.

Pete, run these plates for the Lieutenant,

see whose car it is. Yes, sir.

Yeah, looks like the fall broke both of his legs,

and the radiator must have fallen on him, cos if you look right there,

whole left side of his chest is crushed like a pancake. Ah.

Good news for him, though, is that he was probably dead before he hit the ground.

(SNIFFING) Those marks and bruises on his neck,

they're pretty severe.

(SNIFFING)

Ah... This all seems, you know, consistent with this type of thing.

I'm sure that uh...

his heft, you know, his neck just...snapped.

You say that office is up on the fourth floor? Yes, sir.

Is there a john up there? Sir?

A bathroom. Yes, yes, a bathroom.

Fourth floor, suite 424.

424? Yes, sir.

(PUFFING)

Lieutenant, the car, it turns out that it belonged to the victim.

He's one ahm...

Linwood Coben.

He's a freelance reporter

for the ahm...tabloids.

Uh..

So, we're putting together some contact information...

...on his employers.

So we can have a place to start, sir.

(WATER SLOSHING)

Excuse me. Sir?

The suicide note, can you tell me where it was found?

Over on the computer, sir.

The computer?

Harkins. Harkins!

The computer with the suicide note, has that been dusted for prints?

Er, no, sir, it didn't seem necessary on a suicide.

Did you smell his breath? Whose breath, sir?

The victim's, it smells of mouthwash.

Go ahead.

Yes, sir. Faintly minty, I suppose.

Did you see this?

No, sir. It's a toenail.

And there's nine more of them up here in the toilet.

He cut his toenails. OK.

So...

It just doesn't strike me as the kind of thing you do

before you hang yourself off the side of a building.

A swig of mouthwash and, er, what do you call it?

A pedicure, right?

More like getting ready for a woman than a suicide.

So I would like to have this keyboard up here dusted for prints.

Is the guy around? Yeah, I'll send him right up.

(SIGHS)

What's today's date? 25th.

25th!

What did he do, change the calendar and then jump?

Oh, look at this!

OK.

I thought that only worked on TV.

You'd be surprised.

What have you got? Take a look.

Oh! My coffee.

The thing's just about covered in prints, all the same,

most likely belonging to the deceased. You said just about.

That's the funny thing. Every key has the same basic print pattern

except for the letters E and I. What sort of pattern do they have?

They don't have anything. They're blank?

Yes, sir.

There are 12 E's here, right,

and 11 I's.

12 E's, 11 I's, that's right.

There are more E's and I's than any other letter.

But where are the prints? Where are the prints? Exactly.

Let me ask you something.

If someone were to wear a pair of gloves and they hit those keys,

11 or 12 times, is it possible

that this repeated contact would be enough to wipe away any prints

otherwise left by the deceased?

Yeah, I suppose that's a possibility. This ain't no suicide.

But there's some guy out there that wants me to think it is.

And that's the dude I'm going to be looking for.

Wouldn't you know?

Cold!

Morning!

Don't mean to intrude.

Miss! Sorry.

May I take a look at that? Sure.

Enjoy.

May I? It's yours.

Thank you.

(MUSIC POUNDS IN DISTANCE)

Take the bass down on the right.

Better.

Actually, do the same on the left.

Take it down on the left.

Too much bass.

You must be Lieutenant Columbo, I'm Justin Price.

People actually dance to that music?

Yeah. Not your scene? It's too loud!

Can't think. Oh, can't interfere with a man's thinking.

(MUSIC OFF) You found it all right?

Yeah, I'm here now and I must tell you,

it's quite a place you got here. Really very impressive.

Thank you. It's uh...

It's been a long time in the works.

It must cost a lot of money for something like this.

Yeah, well, you know, as I said, it's been a long time coming.

So, when you called earlier with, well, this awful news about Linwood,

you said you had some questions for me. Oh, yeah, right.

Did I mention the victim had a rope around his neck?

You did. Good,

because obviously this looks like a suicide, right? Yeah.

One problem, no eye-witness.

Nobody actually saw what happened, you understand? Yeah.

So, to close up this case, this...

You know, mark it suicide, go onto something else,

my boss, he's going to have to rely, to a certain extent,

on what people who knew Mr Coben had to say about him.

You understand? I do.

Now, you knew him, correct? That's right.

So tell me about him.

Did he uh...

Did he have problems? Phoo!

Look, Lieutenant, I liked the man but er...yeah, he had problems.

Like what?

(SIGHS) He gambled.

A lot.

He drank, he... The man was desperate.

Desperate.

Lieutenant, this wasn't the first time.

You mean... He tried it before.

Suicide? Last Christmas.

How do you know?

Because he told me. Oh.

This is very valuable.

OK.

So, this party that you had last night, uh...

What do you call them? A rave.

Oh, right!

So, this rave you had last night,

any reason in particular for Mr Coben to be there?

Ah, well, yeah, as a matter of fact. You see,

Coben and I had an arrangement - (PAGER BEEPING)

Excuse me.

Ahm, we had... (BEEPING STOPS)

an arrangement. Ahm, a business arrangement, if you like.

I'm sorry, sir, I don't quite follow you. Sorry.

OK. Um... I meet a lot of people in my line of work,

a lot of famous people, you know, they come to my parties, so...

Look, Lieutenant, if I'm telling you this, I'm telling you this in confidence, right?

You need information and I'll tell you what I know.

But if what I'm about to tell you were to get out,

it would finish my business.

Not to worry. Thank you.

So, these celebrities would occasionally do something

maybe they shouldn't, that's when I'd call Linwood.

Tell him who's who, he'd come down, get a few pictures

and, well, strike a deal with the person's rep,

you know, get the negatives for a price.

So, then, that money, he would split that money with you. That's right.

It's not the most savoury way to make a buck, but...

Oh, no, please, no, I'm not here to judge.

Well, I appreciate that. All right.

So, last night he came there to give you your cut of the last deal.

That's right. You know, looking back,

he was probably putting his accounts in order.

Uh-huh. So, uh...

what time was that?

Er... Around midnight?

Uh-huh. Could you tell me who the person was in these pictures?

Who he made the deal with?

I'm sorry, Lieutenant, it's just that these...celebrities,

they're a little bit sensitive.

That's all right. I probably wouldn't know who they are, anyhow.

(LAUGHTER) But my wife, you know,

she keeps up on these things, you know, the who's who.

(BEEPING) They always do! Right.

Sorry. Oh, don't be sorry.

You already gave me plenty, so don't worry about it.

I have another party I'm organising this evening. I'm a little busy.

Oh, is that right?

Another warehouse thing? Yeah. My last, thank God.

It's a sort of, well, it's a pre-opening bash for this place.

Oh, well, I had no idea. So I take it that a place like this,

that's a step up for you, then?

Well, I'd like to think that's it's more than a step up, yeah.

It sets you apart somewhat. Puts you in the big league.

Well, congratulations, I suppose. Thank you.

If there's anything else I can help you with, get in touch.

I appreciate it. No problem.

(SPEED DIALS)

(RINGING)

Hello. Babe, it's me.

Oh, my God, I've been calling you. What's been going on?

Babe, relax. I've just been talking to a detective

about the whole thing. What?!

Ness, Ness - How did he just -

It's fine, OK, they're just wrapping things up. This guy...Columbo,

he just thinks it's suicide. We're sweet, OK? Everything is fine.

(SIGHS) I don't like this.

I'm scared. I know you are, babe, but look...

maybe it's best if we don't have too much contact,

just for a little bit longer, all right?

If they can't put us together, they can't connect you to this guy.

Understand me? Yeah.

All right, babe, I've got to go. Love you.

I love you. Bye,

(SIGHS)

(PHONE RINGING)

Thanks for waiting. No trouble at all.

I just wanted to do some checking.

Linwood didn't have just one lawsuit against him, he had two.

Occupational hazard, huh? To an extent.

This kind of thing followed Linwood around more than most.

Two of the other rags stopped hiring him altogether. Why's that?

He was just getting too unreliable. He drank too much.

That's a real shame. Can you think of anything else, anybody with a score to settle?

That's just it, Lieutenant. Linwood had a lot of enemies.

There's more than a handful of people in town who'd want him dead.

OK. I'll go through these.

I'll have them back in a week.

Lieutenant, there's one more thing and it's gossip more than anything else.

He'd received some threats about a story he was working on.

I don't know what it was about but rumour has it it touched a nerve.

Whether it's true or not... Check it out?

Well, that's my feeling.

I appreciate your candour. Good luck, Lieutenant.

The boy was fine, just dehydrated. The kids at these parties,

they really push the envelope a bit.

So, you had the doorman contact Mr Price.

Yeah, he beeped him. I guess that's the way they operate.

I remember cos it didn't work very well.

Took him 15 minutes to get outside.

Oh, really, and what time was that?

Aaah, 2:20? 2:30?

2:20, 2:30. Any idea why it took him so long?

Didn't wait around for an explanation.

Just had him sign the form and we were out of there. Thank you.

Thanks for the time.

Hey, hey you!

Hey. Hey, come on, dance with me.

What are you doing? come on, you look good!

I do? Yeah!

Well, if you say so. (LAUGHS)

Lieutenant!

What's this, a new look? I guess it's a start.

Is this a bad time? It couldn't be worse.

Two minutes.

Yeah, I'm sorry to drop in on you like this, but I hate loose ends.

I know what you mean. No, I mean, the slightest thing,

I can't sleep!

I'm the same. Look, take a seat. This is not going to take long.

So, what's bugging you? I was wondering,

these parties that you throw,

is it customary for you to remain present during the entire event?

It's usually a good idea, just in case anything happens.

And last night, you never left for any reason?

No. Sorry, Lieutenant, what does this

have to do with Linwood's suicide?

Well, you know, I'm not so sure it is a suicide, Mr Price.

What, you think he was murdered? We're exploring the possibility.

Wow, that's amazing.

What, I'm now a suspect, is that it?

Is that amusing to you?

Yeah, ever so slightly. Look, Lieutenant,

Linwood had a ton of enemies but I wasn't one of them.

Ours was a mutually beneficial relationship.

You know, you've got a good point.

It doesn't make sense.

OK, I'll tell you what.

Just to make the boss happy,

let me get these questions out of the way.

Yeah, sure, of course. You're just doing your job.

Uh, you were saying about last night.

You were there the entire night. That's correct.

Is there any way for me to confirm that,

just so we can put the whole issue to bed?

Yeah, sure. Erm...

Yes, you could speak to Julius. Julius?

My doorman. He'll tell you my car was out front the entire night.

Julius. OK, fine. Julius.

Julius?

That raises a question,

and now I remember why I couldn't sleep.

See, I spoke to the paramedics that treated that young boy.

What I don't understand is this.

If you were there the whole night...

..why did you take so long to meet them out front?

I should have realised that's what's bothering you.

So you can see the reason for my concern? Oh, absolutely.

Look, Lieutenant, usually, anything like this happens,

the best way to get me is my beeper.

I get a page, I head to the front door. Last night,

my batteries were dead, I never got the alert.

Oh, and what was it that alerted you to the problem?

Word of mouth, I think. Yes, someone said they were looking for me.

Oh, I see.

Well, that explains it.

It was your batteries, they didn't work.

And to think I could have saved you a trip down here. All right.

So, you get back to your party, sir.

Sorry again for bothering you. Not at all.

Oh, actually, er...

if you don't mind, sir,

just one more thing. I'm curious.

What was your morning like? What kind of morning?

Yeah, you got up, you showered,

you had a Pop Tart. What else?

I just went to the club, directly. I had a lot of work to do.

Oh, directly, yeah? I mean, you didn't stop for coffee or nothing?

Not that I can remember, why?

Well, it was just that when I saw you this morning,

your beeper was working fine.

So I figured that maybe you replaced the batteries at some point

before arriving at the club.

That's very clever, Lieutenant.

I like that. I actually replaced them last night,

immediately after the incident. I keep a spare pack in the car.

Oh, well, that certainly clears it up.

And I must say,

that is smart thinking.

You can never be too prepared, right? Oh no, sir, you can't.

You have a good night now. Thank you, Lieutenant, and you.

(PHONE RINGING)

ANSWERPHONE: This is Linwood. Leave your message.

(BEEP) Hey, you there? Hey, pick up the phone, damn it!

All right, all right, OK, pal.

This is Sean Jarvis again. Hey, pal, I don't appreciate these little games you're playing.

I'm still here waiting for my money.

Hey, the number's 310-0152.

Sean Jarvis. You call me, you hear?

Sean Jarvis?

Yes, what is it? I'm Lieutenant Columbo, Homicide.

I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions.

What's this about? You're familiar with a man called Linwood Coben?

Correct?

Yeah, that's right.

Do you mind if I asked you what your relationship is to Mr Coben?

Hey. I barely know the guy. Why?

Well, he was found dead yesterday morning.

What's this got to do with me?

Well, Mr Jarvis, earlier today I overheard the message

that you left for him on his answering machine.

Now, you mentioned some money that he owed you.

Yeah, he owed me 300 bucks.

What was the money for? This might sound stupid to you.

But one day he knocks on my door.

He says he'll give me 100 bucks if he can see my back yard.

He wanted to see your back yard?

I took him back there. He looks around for a minute.

Then says he'll give me another couple of hundred

if he can hang out there for a couple of hours.

For what purpose? He liked my trees.

He liked your trees?

Do you remember, was there one particular tree

that he was interested in?

Yeah, that one over there.

That one? Yeah.

He climbed up about eight, ten feet.

Said he liked the view.

Who am I to argue, right? He liked the view?

That's what he said.

OK. You happen to have a ladder?

I've never been a fan of heights, but...

You said he liked the view.

Oh.

By the way, Mr Jarvis,

do you happen to remember when was the last time you saw Mr Coben?

Saturday, I think it was Saturday.

Last Saturday. That's four days ago. What date was that?

Today is the 26th.

So that must have been the 22nd.

22nd?

OK.

(KNOCKING)

Good afternoon, miss. Oh, I'm not interested.

I'm really not...

Lieutenant Columbo. Sometimes I'm a little slow at these things.

I wonder if I could ask you a few questions.

About what? Do you mind if I come in?

No.

Sure.

Is there something you're looking for?

Would you mind me asking what it is you do for a living?

I'm an actress.

Oh, really?

Anything I might have seen? No.

I had a sitcom, but it just got cancelled.

Sorry to hear that.

In your line of work, have you ever heard of a man named Linwood Coben?

Yeah. I've heard of him. Why?

So that you know.

He's a tabloid guy. Goes around taking pictures.

Spying on people.

Celebrities like yourself mostly.

I guess, yeah, sure.

And if he were in fact writing a story about you,

would you be aware of it?

Most likely.

My publicist usually keeps me up on things like that.

And your publicist has not made you aware of anything recently?

No. No, I don't think so.

But I'd be surprised if he's ever written anything about me.

Why do you say that?

Oh, well, guys like him usually go after the bigger names.

Why do you ask? I'm just following up on a case.

Mr Coben recently passed away a couple of nights ago.

I'm just nosing around.

I'm sorry. I can't help you any further.

That's all right. Thank you for your time.

You know, I'm afraid I never got your name.

Oh, it's Vanessa.

I'm Vanessa Farrow.

A very comfortable house you have here.

Nice taste, the decor.

Thank you. Done some redecorating recently?

Um, no. Not recently.

Oh, no?

Oh, that's strange.

What's that?

It's silly I know, but I notice the strangest things.

I just assumed

from these indentations in the carpet here,

it would appear as though you recently had a bigger coffee table.

You know what, I forgot. I did just buy a new one.

It's very nice. It really is very nice.

Me, I have no sense for this kind of thing.

Anyway, thanks again.

Thank you for the time.

My pleasure.

Ah, here we go.

6/3.

6/10.

Jogging.

6/14.

6/22.

6/22, it's empty.

But all the other ones...

Why are there no pictures here?

Jarvis said you were there.

You were in the tree, you took pictures. You even made a file.

I don't get it.

Lieutenant Columbo.

I was wondering when you'd show up again.

Are you happy to see me? Always, Lieutenant.

I appreciate that.

Gee, I had no idea - fish!

Last time I was here, I didn't even see the tanks.

They're gonna look great, don't you think?

Yeah. A lot of thought went into all of this.

I wanna hand it to you. So, what's up?

Just one quick question, actually.

Yesterday,

you mentioned to me that Mr Coben met with you on business

the night of his death.

That's right.

He'd recently taken a picture of somebody.

He then sold back to this person the negative for a price.

Is that correct? Basically, yeah.

Now, this person...

I understand you're uncomfortable telling me point blank who it is,

but how about we say this?

Say, I give you a name,

one name,

then you tell me whether this is the person in the picture or not?

Why not?

Vanessa Farrow.

She's not the one.

No, huh? Ah.

Well, I just thought I'd throw it out.

Cos all kinds of names come up in this sort of investigation.

You never know where one will lead. No, of course.

No harm in trying. Maybe next time.

Maybe next time. When do you open?

Tomorrow night. I wanna wish you a lot of luck.

Thank you very much. Good day, sir.

Bye-bye now.

I've been trying to call you.

That guy Columbo, the cop, found me.

How?

I don't know. But that guy the other nigh, was his name Coben?

Yeah. Oh, my God!

What did you tell him? I didn't tell him anything.

He doesn't know anything, but...

he's way too close and if I can't get hold of you...

Hey, that's all we gotta do, just keep our distance, all right?

So long as he can't put the two of us together, we are sweet.

What if I have to call you?

All you do is go to a pay phone, page me, and I'll call you back.

If we have to meet up, we'll arrange it then,

but we have covered our tracks, all right?

We've just got to keep swimming a little bit longer.

Now go.

You got something for me?

Yeah, those threats you heard about. The ones against Linwood.

Some pretty interesting stuff.

Excuse me just a second.

Excuse me. The name you just mentioned, the missing person?

What was that again?

A guy named Tony Galper.

Tony Galper?

I'm sorry.

I need to check something out.

We will meet on this later.

Lieutenant Columbo. Yeah, what is it?

A package I need you to sign for.

Vanessa Galper.

Galper!

Her ex.

6/13.

And a 6/20.

Ah.

6/22.

Empty.

Thanks for meeting me.

What were you saying back at the office?

Those rumours you heard about. They're legitimate.

Three of the rags that were working with Linwood

received threats on his behalf.

They said that they were warned repeatedly

to stay away from the story he was working on.

Did they say who was behind the threats? No, sir.

They were tight-lipped. But that's not all though.

Recently Linwood reported that his car had been vandalised.

Somebody through a brick through the window.

They found this note wrapped around the brick.

Signed "G".

Oh, boy.

Do you mind if I borrow this? No, sir.

This guy Linwood, he stumbled onto something, didn't he?

It looks that way. Made somebody pretty angry.

Angry enough to kill him? I don't know.

Miss Farrow!

Hi.

Mr...? Columbo.

Lieutenant Columbo. Right. I'm sorry.

Don't be sorry. It's not a problem.

Are you following me?

Ah, no. No.

I was hoping I could find a different size.

These are all extra large.

Can you believe that?

Like this one. I'm not what you'd call up with the fashion these days,

but let me ask you something.

This is too big, isn't it?

It's a look, but maybe for you a little smaller.

Yeah, I agree. But they don't have any.

My wife always tells me to brighten things up.

I'm sure she would have enjoyed seeing me in something like this.

It's a shame.

Come to think about it, it's actually a good thing my running into you.

It saved me a trip up to that house of yours.

Those canyon roads, they make me nervous.

You have more questions for me?

Yes.

About your ex-husband.

About Tony?

When was the last time that you saw him?

A while back. Is he OK?

As a matter of fact, and I'm sorry to tell you this,

recently a member of his family reported him missing.

Oh, no.

Did you know that Tony's father was a member of the New York Mob?

Actually a boss. Joe Gienelli.

I'm the only one that knows that.

Not the only one, miss.

What do you mean? Well, for starters,

I know.

A couple of weeks ago, the cops found this note in Linwood's car.

See how it's signed there with a "G"?

And I recently came across some notes that Coben had on this subject

and that "G" is Joe Gienelli.

Tony's father.

I-I don't understand.

Coben was following your ex-husband.

He knew the truth about Tony's father.

And Gienelli didn't want him to go public with the story.

So you think these are the people responsible for Linwood's death?

I wish it were that easy.

But with Tony missing, it doesn't add up.

And you say you haven't seen him in a while?

Um, no. I'm sorry.

Well, if anything turns up, I'll let you know.

Thank you. I appreciate that.

Oh, just one more question, Miss Farrow.

Where were you the night of Linwood's death?

I was home.

Anyone you know who can verify that?

I was home alone. Very good, Miss Farrow.

Good day.

Bye.

You learn anything yet about Tony Galper's disappearance?

Yes, sir. We got his whereabouts mapped out until three days ago.

Then he just vanishes. No trace.

Really?

Three days ago, huh? What day was that, the 24th?

Yes, sir.

Are you sure it was the 24th and not the 22nd?

Yes, sir, the 24th. Last Monday.

Checked out of his hotel room at 10:15.

Then he dropped off a Renault car in a lot nearby. Here.

Got a record of his hotel bill and receipts for the rental car.

No signature.

Sorry, sir?

This car rental receipt, what's the address on this place?

Excuse me, miss!

Miss, I'm sorry to interrupt.

I'm curious about something.

As a customer, say, when I drop off a car,

isn't there some paperwork that I have to sign?

No, not necessarily, sir. You drop off the car and leave your key.

There's a drop box right outside the door for your key.

Amazing.

Are you telling me a person can check out of a hotel

without signing anything?

Right. It happens all the time.

How do you check out without signing?

You pick up the phone and say you're checking out.

We charge the credit card and send you a report of the bill.

So when you leave, nobody sees you go?

No. Very convenient.

Here's the maid. Her name is Miki. She'll answer any questions. Thank you very much.

Miki? Yeah.

How's it going? Good.

You cleaned Mr Galper's room? Yeah.

Just you? Nobody else?

Yeah. Just me.

And the bedroom,

every morning,

the bed messed?

Messed, yeah.

What about the bathroom? Messed.

Uh-huh.

The shower?

Shower wet.

And the sink? Yeah, he used the sink.

Sink wet? Yeah, and dirty.

And you cleaned every day?

Yeah.

And Mr Galper,

how long did he stay here?

He checked out Monday, so he was week before and two days...

Nine days.

And you remember that?

Yeah, I remember. You remember him that well?

I remember real well. Why?

He don't want me to say.

Come on, he don't care.

I don't want to say.

OK. So, when you clean, you start here?

Or you start in the bedroom? No. Bathroom.

I start back at the sink and then move out.

Was he ever here when you were here?

Yeah.

One time.

So, what happened?

Come on. Tell me.

I make joke.

So, what did you say?

OK.

I say, Mr Galper, will you please do me favour?

And he like me, I can tell.

So, he say, "What? I do it."

So I say, when you use this, can you please stand closer to the bowl?

And he laughed and said, "Do I miss?"

And I say yeah. Every day, for six days.

So what happened?

Nothing.

He still miss.

Every day.

Except for last day.

Last day the only day he hit water not bowl.

And that was Monday. Yeah.

The day he checked out, the 24th?

Yeah. Did you see him on Monday?

No. He check out early.

So the last day, that was the only day...

BOTH: ..that he hit the water and not the bowl.

You're terrific. Thank you.

Excuse me. Excuse me.

I'm sorry to bother you.

I think I'm a little lost. Can you point me to Grant Street?

Sure.

You go on Ocean

and it looks like, yeah, take a right

and you go one block, you run right into it. Right here.

Oh, yeah, I see it now.

I'm here from New York on business.

It's already the third time I'm lost.

The name is Freddie.

Lieutenant... Columbo, right?

Yeah.

You see, this business of mine,

I'm sort of a messenger.

And these people I work for, they're very private.

They sent me out here to check up on a few things.

I see.

Well, that sounds like interesting work.

As a matter of fact, your name came up.

One of the people they wanted me to track down.

They were a little concerned about Tony Galper's disappearance.

That's the case you're looking into? Yes, it is.

These people, they want me to keep tabs on things,

make sure things are progressing smoothly.

I understand, but I'm afraid we don't have much right now.

What about the basics? We suspect there's foul play.

All right. See that? That's good.

Cos these people, they think so also.

Yeah? Why is that?

Apparently, Mr Galper's been juggling some big-money investments

around recently.

Made the people back home a little nervous.

But things were going OK until now.

Oh, so you think that...

Whoa. I'm just a messenger, remember?

I don't think anything. Oh, pardon me.

These people, they think that one of Mr Galper's investments,

that's what's behind his disappearance?

It's a concern. Any one in particular?

You remember a name?

I don't. I'm sorry.

There were fish though. I remember that.

Something about fish.

The Bait? That's the one.

You see, after Mr Galper's disappearance,

they went through his investments

and froze whatever deals were still pending.

And The Bait was one of those? No, actually.

And that's the thing.

Turns out that investment was finalised on the day...

Hang on. Let me get this right.

On the morning of the day Mr Galper actually disappeared.

Now ain't that something?

You mean the 24th?

Yep. The 24th. Exactly.

I appreciate the information.

And I'll look into it.

Listen, if there's anything I can help you with,

please.

Well, I don't think I'm gonna need this.

But thanks anyhow.

We should double this order.

I don't want to run short this evening, because if we do...

Tonight's the big one, right?

You know,

my day wouldn't be complete without at least one of your little visits.

I'm sorry about Tony.

Tony? Mr Galper. One of your investors.

You do know he's missing?

Of course I know he's missing. It's terrible.

Yeah, must be kind of sad not to have him here to see all this.

You have no idea.

This is as much his as it is mine.

I'm sorry, I'm lost. It's a picture of Tony.

I found it and quite a few more like it in Linwood's files.

Why would Linwood have pictures of Tony?

Linwood was following him for a story.

A story about what?

Mr Price, Tony's last name was not Galper.

What?

It was Gienelli.

Linwood was following him because his father is Joe Gienelli.

And Joe Gienelli is Mafia.

He's the head of one of the five New York families.

You're kidding me now, Lieutenant.

I'm not kidding you.

As a matter of fact, I just had an interesting conversation

with a man representing Tony's father.

He came all the way out here just to see how my investigation was going.

I thought you were investigating Linwood's case.

I'm working on both now.

Anyway, you can imagine Tony's father is real anxious to find the people

responsible for his son's disappearance.

Although, given the chance,

he'd probably like to take justice into his own hands.

Really?

I didn't know that.

By the way, I meant to ask you.

After Mr Galper's investment money was transferred,

and everything was complete,

was there a call you made to him maybe to say thanks,

congratulations?

Actually, yeah.

We arranged to meet for a drink. And did you?

Yes, we did. Later on that day.

You really are something else, Lieutenant.

Why do you say that?

Tony was an enthusiastic partner in this club.

Please tell me why I would want to get rid of him.

I dunno.

No.

What are these fish called?

Koi. Fantastic.

Oh, my gosh.

Fantastic.

What a great idea.

Fish in the dance floor.

Fantastic.

Yeah, fantastic.

Good luck tonight.

(KNOCKING)

Lieutenant?

Sorry to bother you. I hope you don't mind.

I'm in a bit of a rush today.

I'm afraid these things won't wait. It'll just take a minute.

What is that?

Do you mind?

Um...

I really don't have much time. I understand.

I'll just get right to it.

Thank you. You're welcome.

Er...

So...?

Just getting my notes.

OK.

My problem is, the two cases I'm working on,

the murder of Linwood Coben and your husband's disappearance.

Ex-husband. Ex-husband, you're right.

You're right, you're right.

Anyhow, the only way these two cases make any sense,

they gotta have a common tie.

Where is this heading, Lieutenant?

It's just this tie between them.

That's the thing that had me stumped.

I have a suspect in the Coben murder that I'm reasonably certain about.

But I'm having a devil of a time tying that suspect

to the suspect that I'm circling in your husband's...

Excuse me.

Your ex-husband's disappearance.

And who is that? Well, that's you, Miss Farrow.

You see, once it occurred to me...

..that one suspect might know the other suspect, that opened the door.

I'm sorry, Mr Columbo. This makes... I don't know anything about this.

I don't know what you're talking about. I think you do.

What is that?

These are phone records that belong to Justin Price.

All the calls that he receives on that pager of his.

I've highlighted the calls on your phone number.

And a number of them were made the morning after Mr Coben's death.

This doesn't prove anything. No, it doesn't. But it helps.

I'm gonna run along. I know you're in a rush.

You keep these. Look at them at your leisure.

One more question, ma'am.

You made a lot of calls to him.

Did you ever ask yourself why he didn't call you back

when you needed him?

You've no idea what you're talking about.

You're right, ma'am. Sorry.

Yeah, it's me. I have to see you right now.

'Where are you?' A pay phone, like you said.

'What's wrong?' He knows.

He knows about us. I have to see you right now.

'No way. I open the doors in two minutes.'

Justin. I have to see you now.

Vanessa, go home.

Let me in, Julius. Go home. He'll call you.

(POUNDING RAVE MUSIC)

He got a hold of your call history on your pager.

My number is all over it.

What did I tell you?

What am I supposed to do? He's on my back.

He's getting closer and closer.

Calm down!

We're talking about murder! Going to jail!

How am I supposed to be calm? Stop it, Ness!

He doesn't have a thing.

He doesn't have a case without Tony's body.

All we have...

(SILENCE)

Rusty, what's going on? I'm sorry, sir. I apologise.

This is un... You knew this was my opening night!

You're right. It's an intrusion. No, no, no!

Let me tell you what I'm gonna do. I'll sue your ass!

You're not gonna sue cos that's foolish.

It's foolish. Get out of my club.

I got it right here. I got a warrant.

Here it is.

I'm sorry? I have a warrant.

Take this up to Mr Price, would you?

It's an extra copy. You can keep it.

Just so you folks understand. We'll be here ten, 15 minutes.

Working on a missing person's.

If you want to stay, you're welcome. You gotta be quiet.

Mr Price...

Almost forgot.

This is a fabulous club.

And this man is responsible for it.

This is all his vision here.

This is his design.

And I think we all owe him a big hand.

Mr Price,

I wonder if Miss Farrow would join us.

I think she'd be interested in this, too.

Miss Farrow.

You recall, sir, I dropped by earlier today.

I had the photo of Tony Galper. Yes.

I remember.

Do you remember when I was leaving?

I got over here.

Just about with the fish. What are they called again?

Koi.

Koi. Right. Magnificent creatures.

The different shapes and the different colours.

Look at that guy there.

Look at that orange. Isn't that fantastic?

Anyway, they caught my eye.

And I noticed that there were 14 of them.

Now I was going this way. I'm sorry.

And another colour caught my eye.

But in this tank I noticed there were only nine fish.

Each one more beautiful than the other.

But only nine.

When I got over here I was struck because there's 14 here just like...

Please! Please tell me this nonsense

has something to do with obtaining the warrant.

Absolutely. Let me tell you something.

I've got a nephew.

He works in that zoo, down in San Diego.

The one with the big whale.

And he tells me there's a rule for fish tanks.

I don't know if you're aware of this or not.

But he tells me that for every inch of fish in the tank,

you've got to have one gallon of water.

So if you have two goldfish,

each of them one inch, that's a total of two inches,

you gotta have two gallons of water.

Don't ask me who comes up with this stuff.

But that's what he told me.

He had it checked out and it's true.

So, Junior...

Can we get these two things here?

It has to do with waste and filtration

and things that I don't understand.

What this all means is...

..the more fish you got,

the more water you need.

About four feet.

So this tank has 14 fish and it's about four feet deep.

This is ridiculous, Columbo. Even for you.

Yeah, but I'm not finished.

With this formula, and this is the part that really got my attention,

it follows, the less space you have, the less fish you can keep.

In this tank here,

we've only got nine fish.

About two feet.

This tank is only two feet deep.

That's why it's only got nine fish.

Less space, less fish.

Am I holding you up?

Come on, get started.

Work right here on the nine-fish tank.

This is only gonna take a minute.

You see, I'm not sure what happened to Tony Galper.

But he is missing and I was thinking hypothetically,

if something did happen to him,

and somehow, Miss Farrow, you happened to be involved,

you knew the people Tony was associated with,

you had to assume if they found out, they'd probably kill you.

I'm just talking hypothetically.

Now, you, Mr Price,

you had a lot riding on Tony's investment in this club.

And this place meant a great deal to you.

Say something did happen to him.

In order to ensure the receipt of his money,

you would have needed to help Miss Farrow cover it up.

Got it, Lieutenant. OK, go.

That device is actually called... What is it again?

A ground-penetrating radar device, sir.

Right.

Amazing.

So you buried him right here.

Right under that tank.

And appropriately enough,

with the fishes, as they say.

This place really could have been something.

Too bad.

Good evening, Mr Price.

Miss Farrow.

Good work, Lieutenant.

The people back east are gonna be very pleased.

Listen.

If there's anything I can ever do.

Yes, very nice.

I really appreciate that.

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