Lt. Columbo and Nora Chandler in “Unfinished Business”

Lt. Columbo

[after exposing Nora as the murderer] I was just playing hunches. I had nothing to go on. I was just guessing. I had nothing concrete. I just wanted to see what you'd do. And when you came in here, you didn't even turn on the lights. Just ran right straight through to the fountain. You know, coincidence. If I hadn't called George, if he hadn't been looking at the TV, if it was some other movie, if you hadn't been dressed like a man... Because that's when it occurred to me. Twelve years ago, somebody standing on a beach at night saw your husband get in a boat and go out to the ocean. I remember the photographs. You and your husband, the same height. It could have been you.

It was. You see, I married Al because I thought I could improve myself. You know, my career. And then I began to care about the marriage. So when he went playing around, you know, all the starlets, all that bit, well, it hurt. So I put up with it, you know. I put up with it until, one night, he brought one of them right in here. And we had a hell of a fight. We argued, fought, and I struck him with a bottle. And he... I panicked. And I buried him out there. Jean knew. Well, I'll get a coat and we'll go.