Columbo (Death Lends a Hand/Large Graphic with Vintage Print Effect/Robert Culp/Peter Falk)

Columbo — “Death Lends a Hand” (1971)

Early Columbo at its sharpest. “Death Lends a Hand,” first airing in 1971, pairs Lieutenant Columbo’s rumpled persistence with a sleek, high-society crime—one that starts polished and unravels fast.

Starring Robert Culp as a private investigator who’s a little too smooth for his own good, the episode plays on power, secrets, and just how far someone will go to keep control. As always, Columbo lets the suspect talk, circle, and slip—until that final, quiet moment when everything clicks.