 Dian Hunter, the controlling partner of a men s magazine, disappears. She was supposed to fly to England to sell her interest to a U.K. businessman, Sir Harry Matthews. That will mean the end for Sean Brantley, the Hugh Hefner-like front man for the magazine, who only owns 49 percent. Columbo is on the case and quickly zeroes in on Brantley as his main suspect, finding a number of inconsistencies in Brantley s story. The dogged detective bears down on Brantley but, for once, he has been fooled. Brantley s partner turns up alive -- it was all a planned publicity stunt. However, the partner now plans to sell her interest in the magazine to Sir Harry for even more than before. Brantley can t permit that and, when Dian turns up missing a second time, Columbo faces a problem. He s like the boy who cried wolf, making it very difficult to nail Brantley.