Continuity mistake: When Columbo takes the whiskey decanter out of the murdered man's liquor cabinet, he puts his cigar in his mouth with his right hand and opens the bottle with the same hand. A second later, the shot changes to a closeup of him sniffing the contents and the cigar is back in his hand. (00:28:55)
Other mistake: Several of the English characters change back and forth between calling Columbo "leftenant" and "lootenant."






Answer: Columbo deduces that the first blow must have been to the front of the head, the force causing the victim to fall backwards and hitting the back of his head hard on the ground.
raywest ★