He can’t help Columbo with his next query though. Uncovering the drugs, however, gives Columbo reason to pay a house call to Mayfield – and he finds the doctor hosting a lavish pool party, complete with guests galore and enough booze to sate a shipload of thirsty pirates.ĭuring a short interview, Mayfield reveals that Sharon did have access to drugs in the lab. Why would Sharon wear gloves, Columbo wonders? His trip wasn’t wasted, though, as the hidden morphine is uncovered while he’s there – albeit suspiciously with no fingerprints, only glove smudges on the bottles. She’s a bit of a loon, and has nothing useful to tell the Lieutenant. Mayfield’s clock-winding when receiving news of Sharon’s death is Columbo’s first major reason to suspect the dastardly doctorĬolumbo’s next interview is with Marcia back at Sharon’s apartment. After all, he’s seen similar examples from killers in the past – just think of murderous Ken Franklin opening his mail as the corpse of his partner lay on his front lawn… “It was purely reflexive,” he says, but we know that Columbo is already onto his man. When Columbo references the incident as an example of Mayfield’s great concentration, the Doctor tries to explain things away. Although his voice registers shock, Mayfield had the presence of mind to wind up his desk clock as he speaks. He locates him in his office, on the phone, receiving the news of Sharon’s demise. CSI this ain’t…įrom here, Columbo heads off to find Dr Mayfield.
The sleepy detective isn’t at his best after a sleepless night, though, first sprinkling egg-shell over the crime scene, then using the murder weapon itself to crack the egg against. Instead he takes Sharon’s apartment keys and, waiting for her roomie Marcia to clear out, he breaks in and plants morphine under the kitchen sink before messing up the place to make it look like a drug-addled fiend has marauded through in pursuit of a fix.īack to the hospital parking lot and a dishevelled Lieutenant Columbo is one of the officers in action. I can’t condone murder, but when it’s THIS stylishly presented… We never see the fatal strike, but it’s game over for Sharon.
As she heads to the hospital car park to head home after a stressful day, Mayfield steps out of the shadows and raises a tire iron. He challenges her to have the suture analysed to prove her suspicions, and she rises to his challenge by booking an appointment at the medical suppliers the following morning. She suggests as such to Mayfield as they meet in the lab shortly later. Picking it up, we can immediately see something’s not right with her reaction as she rubs it between her fingers with a puzzled expression. And although all seems to go well in theatre, as Sharon cleans up afterwards she notices some leftover suture on the floor. She doesn’t trust Mayfield one iota, and she’s watching the young surgeon like a hawk throughout the operation. Luckily for Heideman, he has a friend in nurse Sharon Martin (Anne Francis in her second Columbo outing). It’ll look perfectly natural, but it will leave Mayfield in command of the research project.
What does this mean? Well, when it dissolves in a few days, Dr Heideman’s replacement valve will fail and he’ll perish. Mayfield, you see, has dyed some dissolving suture black, so that it passes for regular suture in the operating room. Little does the old boy realise the villainous scheme Mayfield has in mind.ĭon’t worry Gramps – you’re in safe hands… Heideman has complete faith in his young protege, and trusts Mayfield with the job of patching up his dicky ticker. The opportunity presents itself swiftly, as the elderly surgeon’s heart is in a bad way and he needs a replacement valve, stat. To do that, he’ll need sole ownership of the research – and that means getting the lovable Heideman out of his hair, permanently. He wants recognition – and he wants it now, before someone else beats them to the punch. When his august colleague Dr Edmund Heideman (Will Geer) seeks a longer period of research before unleashing a revolutionary new heart drug, Mayfield’s patience runs out. Score by: Billy Goldenberg Episode synopsis: Columbo A Stitch in Crimeīrilliant young heart surgeon, Dr Barry Mayfield (Leonard Nimoy), is hungry for success. That combo could never be bad, right?īut does A Stitch in Crime hit home with the force of a tire iron to the head, or does it instead bring on a morphine induced-style coma? And am I able to avoid making dozens of Star Trek puns throughout this review? Read on and find out… Just think what he could bring to the table: a Vulcan’s cold logic a Klingon-esque love of killing a Romulan-infused ruthless ambition. Columbo went where no man has gone before on 11 February, 1973 by casting Star Trek legend Leonard Nimoy in the role of murderous medic Dr Barry Mayfield.Ĭasting Spock, err… Nimoy seemed an inspired choice on paper.