Jessica appears only at the beginning to introduce this episode of her friend, Dennis Stanton, the former burglar turned insurance investigator. Others have detailed the plot so I will forego that here.
Never before have I seen an episode, with or without Jessica, in this series where the plot seemed so obvious from the opening minutes. Columbo had more surprises and we saw the murders committed there in the opening scenes in each episode.
There's no way to explain details here without totally ruining it. But I truly believed I knew what was going to happen and why Dennis was involved and what would be the result long before we got to the mention of someone being murdered. And I was right all the way.
I think Dennis should have suspected what was going on.
One other thing: Lieutenant Catalano, who has now worked with Dennis several times and been aided by him and knows he is enjoying his honest job with the insurance company, seems way too hostile to Dennis in this one, refusing to try to keep anyone from being harmed at first, then accusing Dennis of murder later on. Too "over the top"-in the script, not in the acting-Ken Swofford is a hidden gem of an actor. I loved his news reporter character in the Ellery Queen series.
Have to give this one a 4-well below average score.