Forking over a huge sum of cash as a murky 'investment' to someone you don't know very well is bad enough to begin with.
Doing this during your later years of life is a disaster in the making.
An older gentleman hands over a bunch of cash to a shady couple. This man 'investing' then changes his mind,he wants his money back,and he asks for it to be returned. The money is in fact returned to the 'investor',along with a few good punches for interest! The 'investor' falls backwards after being socked-around,and he hits his head on the way down! Will he snap out of it? Is he dead? Is he 'playing possum'?
3 Reviews
Don't take foolish chances if you cannot afford to lose!
ronnybee21124 February 2021
Warning: Spoilers
RIDICULOUS!
skarylarry-9340026 April 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Why on earth would the man that killed the old guy go to his girlfriend's place of work (the restaurant) after she told him the cops were there? This is the absolute dumbest thing I have ever seen.. EVER, on any TV show or Movie? Completely ridiculous!
Really dumb crook, really awkward gun battle
FlushingCaps24 November 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Gus Fields is an old man we see at the beginning, walking into a diner named "Matties" as the show opens. Curiously, although the whole show centers on this diner, we never see the outside front of the building, only a glimpse at the back door and wall. Several times we see that sign from a view that shows the road.
Gus sits down at a table with a man. The only other person in the place is Mattie, who is soon learned to be the girlfriend of the man Gus is meeting, a man in a suit named Paul Gayle. Gus tells him he wants his money back. He says, "You said I could have my money back." Paul tells him he has a deal tomorrow where he could double his money that quickly, but Gus says he just wants his money back. Paul says OK, come on out back.
Right away we know there is something fishy. There's nobody else around...why go out back? They do and Paul turns mean, grabbing Gus's collar, telling him he doesn't want him going to the police or telling anyone about their deal. Threatening him what will happen if he tells anyone, he punches him one time. Gus falls backwards and drops to the ground. Paul tosses a bag with money inside to the fallen man, telling him to get up and go home. Moments later, to the surprise of Paul and Mattie, Gus is dead.
Wanting to avoid any questions by phoning police right away, Paul puts the body in his car, drives it to some lonely roadside and drags the body down a hill, leaving it about 50 feet from the roadside, not hidden at all. He didn't notice the man's hat fell off as he started to drag him. But Sergeant Ken Williams of the highway patrol sure noticed the hat on the ground as he was driving by and he quickly found the body.
While Paul was doing that, he directed Mattie to get the money from the safe-under the diner counter, and take it to his office, which is a short walk down the small town street from the diner. When Paul returns to his office, he goes through some paperwork.
Meanwhile a man named Mike, who worked for Gus on his farm has come to talk to Mattie, a friend, wondering what happened to Gus. Mattie offers him money if he wants to go away somewhere, but Mike says he wants to stick around to see who killed his employer. Since he isn't working for Gus anymore, Mattie offers him a job at her diner, where he can sleep in the back (no mention is made about taking care of the farm until whoever inherits it can take over, or possibly continuing to work for them.)
Dan has been called in and at Gus's he and Ken encounter Mike. Mike tells them about the diner, suggesting Mattie might know Gus's activities. Dan has found a bankbook of Gus's, showing a $5,000 withdrawal just a few days earlier. He figures they have a motive now.
Dan and Ken take Mike back to Mattie's and question Mattie, but not until after sitting outside her diner for quite a spell while having someone else check with the bank to see is they know why Gus withdrew the money. They wait for the report-obviously several minutes, and all they learn is Gus said he hoped to double his money.
This gives Mattie time to phone Paul, who's still going through papers at his office. We have learned that Paul has an investment racket going where he takes in money from people wanting to increase their savings for retirement, or otherwise, promising huge returns-doubling is mentioned twice in the show-and he only pays back some of them with money from other investors. He is just hoping to get enough investors to get enough so he and Mattie can run off together.
Paul comes over to the diner to be at a table listening as the police question Mattie. She tells them she knows almost nothing about any of her customers. She says she has no knowledge of what Gus did with any money and professes to not even know what Paul does for a living.
The police leave the diner after Paul does so, but in trying to find Paul at his office, Dan discovers it is empty. They go back to the diner. Meanwhile, Paul has walked away from the diner, despite having parked his car right in front of it. Now he goes around to the back and talks to Mike, promising him $10 for just driving his car around from the front to the back, explaining something about a fight with Mattie.
Mike does this, heard by Mattie but unseen. She is trying not to tell the cops anything, but she blows it when she hears the car, saying, "Paul is leaving me." Now they know she is in on something. The cops leave to go after Paul, but he comes inside after that and retrieves the satchel he brought to the diner with all the money from his investors and tells Mattie he's leaving without her because she'd slow him down. Dan and Ken enter but Paul is now holding a gun at Mattie's head, threatening to kill her if they don't drop their guns.
Standing about 10 feet apart behind the counter, Dan puts his gun on the counter. Then Ken puts his gun down and slides it far to his right, away from him. Paul lets Mattie go but while he is still pointing his gun toward the two cops, Dan reaches down, slides his gun along the counter to Ken, who picks it up and fires at Paul before Paul reacts.
Mysteriously, Dan tells the wounded Paul as he is leaving, "By the way, Gus died of a heart attack." It is clearly said as though Paul wouldn't have been in trouble since the punch didn't kill him, but he would surely be indicted for manslaughter, since his assault and battery brought on the heart attack, as was stated in the show.
Stupidity reigns. That final scene in particular. Dan could have picked up his gun and fired more quickly than he could slide it along the counter and have his partner do the same. Why it took Paul so long to react can only be blamed on the poor scriptwriter.
Going back to the beginning: Paul had enough money to repay Gus, and plenty more. He was going to give him his money back and Gus assured him he hadn't talked to anyone about the company. Beating up the old man seems like the dumbest thing Paul could have done-even if all the old man got was a few bruises as Paul intended. If he wanted him to keep quiet, simply giving him his money back was the best way for that to happen. Beating him up was the most likely way to get him to talk to the police.
The clumsy way he "disposed" of the body was also stupid. Paul would have almost tripped over the hat on his way back to the car. Overlooking that, plus not concealing the body under weeds farther from the road was quite stupid.
Emptying out his office did nothing to help either. He would have been far ahead if he destroyed any paperwork he had showing Gus had invested with him, and having Mattie say to the police that she knew Gus was thinking of investing with Paul but didn't know if he had. Paul could have told the police that he tried to get him to invest but Gus wanted to think it over and that he hadn't convinced him to invest. He could even say Gus told him he was going to talk it over with some other friend, but he didn't know who it was. This would have led Dan to trying to find the other friend and directed him away from himself and Mattie.
It seems like every time this series presents a crook with a clever plan to steal, they have him doing several really dumb things that point suspicion right at the person. If Columbo's suspects were as dumb as Dan Mathews', those Columbo's would have been half-hour shows too.
I would have given this episode a 5 out of 10 if not for the concluding scene where Paul watches the gun sliding down the counter and doesn't even get off a shot before Ken can pick it up and fire it at him. That scene was so awkwardly staged my score is lowered to a 3.
Gus sits down at a table with a man. The only other person in the place is Mattie, who is soon learned to be the girlfriend of the man Gus is meeting, a man in a suit named Paul Gayle. Gus tells him he wants his money back. He says, "You said I could have my money back." Paul tells him he has a deal tomorrow where he could double his money that quickly, but Gus says he just wants his money back. Paul says OK, come on out back.
Right away we know there is something fishy. There's nobody else around...why go out back? They do and Paul turns mean, grabbing Gus's collar, telling him he doesn't want him going to the police or telling anyone about their deal. Threatening him what will happen if he tells anyone, he punches him one time. Gus falls backwards and drops to the ground. Paul tosses a bag with money inside to the fallen man, telling him to get up and go home. Moments later, to the surprise of Paul and Mattie, Gus is dead.
Wanting to avoid any questions by phoning police right away, Paul puts the body in his car, drives it to some lonely roadside and drags the body down a hill, leaving it about 50 feet from the roadside, not hidden at all. He didn't notice the man's hat fell off as he started to drag him. But Sergeant Ken Williams of the highway patrol sure noticed the hat on the ground as he was driving by and he quickly found the body.
While Paul was doing that, he directed Mattie to get the money from the safe-under the diner counter, and take it to his office, which is a short walk down the small town street from the diner. When Paul returns to his office, he goes through some paperwork.
Meanwhile a man named Mike, who worked for Gus on his farm has come to talk to Mattie, a friend, wondering what happened to Gus. Mattie offers him money if he wants to go away somewhere, but Mike says he wants to stick around to see who killed his employer. Since he isn't working for Gus anymore, Mattie offers him a job at her diner, where he can sleep in the back (no mention is made about taking care of the farm until whoever inherits it can take over, or possibly continuing to work for them.)
Dan has been called in and at Gus's he and Ken encounter Mike. Mike tells them about the diner, suggesting Mattie might know Gus's activities. Dan has found a bankbook of Gus's, showing a $5,000 withdrawal just a few days earlier. He figures they have a motive now.
Dan and Ken take Mike back to Mattie's and question Mattie, but not until after sitting outside her diner for quite a spell while having someone else check with the bank to see is they know why Gus withdrew the money. They wait for the report-obviously several minutes, and all they learn is Gus said he hoped to double his money.
This gives Mattie time to phone Paul, who's still going through papers at his office. We have learned that Paul has an investment racket going where he takes in money from people wanting to increase their savings for retirement, or otherwise, promising huge returns-doubling is mentioned twice in the show-and he only pays back some of them with money from other investors. He is just hoping to get enough investors to get enough so he and Mattie can run off together.
Paul comes over to the diner to be at a table listening as the police question Mattie. She tells them she knows almost nothing about any of her customers. She says she has no knowledge of what Gus did with any money and professes to not even know what Paul does for a living.
The police leave the diner after Paul does so, but in trying to find Paul at his office, Dan discovers it is empty. They go back to the diner. Meanwhile, Paul has walked away from the diner, despite having parked his car right in front of it. Now he goes around to the back and talks to Mike, promising him $10 for just driving his car around from the front to the back, explaining something about a fight with Mattie.
Mike does this, heard by Mattie but unseen. She is trying not to tell the cops anything, but she blows it when she hears the car, saying, "Paul is leaving me." Now they know she is in on something. The cops leave to go after Paul, but he comes inside after that and retrieves the satchel he brought to the diner with all the money from his investors and tells Mattie he's leaving without her because she'd slow him down. Dan and Ken enter but Paul is now holding a gun at Mattie's head, threatening to kill her if they don't drop their guns.
Standing about 10 feet apart behind the counter, Dan puts his gun on the counter. Then Ken puts his gun down and slides it far to his right, away from him. Paul lets Mattie go but while he is still pointing his gun toward the two cops, Dan reaches down, slides his gun along the counter to Ken, who picks it up and fires at Paul before Paul reacts.
Mysteriously, Dan tells the wounded Paul as he is leaving, "By the way, Gus died of a heart attack." It is clearly said as though Paul wouldn't have been in trouble since the punch didn't kill him, but he would surely be indicted for manslaughter, since his assault and battery brought on the heart attack, as was stated in the show.
Stupidity reigns. That final scene in particular. Dan could have picked up his gun and fired more quickly than he could slide it along the counter and have his partner do the same. Why it took Paul so long to react can only be blamed on the poor scriptwriter.
Going back to the beginning: Paul had enough money to repay Gus, and plenty more. He was going to give him his money back and Gus assured him he hadn't talked to anyone about the company. Beating up the old man seems like the dumbest thing Paul could have done-even if all the old man got was a few bruises as Paul intended. If he wanted him to keep quiet, simply giving him his money back was the best way for that to happen. Beating him up was the most likely way to get him to talk to the police.
The clumsy way he "disposed" of the body was also stupid. Paul would have almost tripped over the hat on his way back to the car. Overlooking that, plus not concealing the body under weeds farther from the road was quite stupid.
Emptying out his office did nothing to help either. He would have been far ahead if he destroyed any paperwork he had showing Gus had invested with him, and having Mattie say to the police that she knew Gus was thinking of investing with Paul but didn't know if he had. Paul could have told the police that he tried to get him to invest but Gus wanted to think it over and that he hadn't convinced him to invest. He could even say Gus told him he was going to talk it over with some other friend, but he didn't know who it was. This would have led Dan to trying to find the other friend and directed him away from himself and Mattie.
It seems like every time this series presents a crook with a clever plan to steal, they have him doing several really dumb things that point suspicion right at the person. If Columbo's suspects were as dumb as Dan Mathews', those Columbo's would have been half-hour shows too.
I would have given this episode a 5 out of 10 if not for the concluding scene where Paul watches the gun sliding down the counter and doesn't even get off a shot before Ken can pick it up and fire it at him. That scene was so awkwardly staged my score is lowered to a 3.
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