Continuity mistake: Viveca's beauty mark switches cheeks several times between shots while she talks to her assistant. (00:07:45)
Continuity mistake: Dr. Murcheson is not wearing gloves when he scrapes the women's faces. Then he goes into another room and removes a gray glove from his left hand.
Continuity mistake: During his poolside talk with Nelson Hayward, Columbo carries a large cardboard box under one arm. His coat tail is hanging straight at his side in the master shot, but when it cuts to another angle, the coat is draped over more than half of the box. (01:15:00)
Continuity mistake: Just before Viveca murders Martin Sheen, she scribbles an amount on magazine-her nailpolish is red. Seconds later after the murder with the microscope, Vera's nailpolish is a completely different color, mauve.
Continuity mistake: Just before the end we see a slide of Columbo looking at the lamp, but in the next shot of Columbo the slide is reversed.
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 hit the back of his head hard on the ground.
raywest ★