 Kay Freestone, assistant to television network executive Mark McAndrews, shares both a professional and an intensely personal relationship with her boss. When Mark is promoted, she expects him to give her his job. But Mark, with a cold professional eye, refuses, believing that she isn t yet ready for the responsibility. Kay retaliates by murdering Mark, whom she feels has used her, and setting up a seemingly airtight alibi. But Columbo, even with an injured neck, begins unraveling her plan with all the practiced ease of an expert screenwriter.