Match 20168 Lt. Columbo vs. Clock King

[Twogunkid]

“Y’know Sgt. Bullock.” Columbo paused and took a spoonful of chili. “This is really good chili. Where was I?”

 

“Look Lieutenant'' Bullock's voice dripped with sarcasm, “you were explaining what we're going to do next on the case.” Bullock spoke between mouthfuls of powdered donuts.

 

“Right… right. We are going to look through Dr. Elliot’s office. I want to look at phone records, appointment books, his calendar, everything.” Columbo emphatically gestured as he took another spoonful of chili. “Because Dr. Elliot must have been there at a specific time. He must have been meeting someone who would have known he would be there and who had planned to kill him.”

 

“I still don’t see how you could have come to that conclusion. You going to eat that?” Bullock asked his question as he took Columbo’s donut that was waiting for him and began to shovel it into his mouth. 

 

“Well… as I see it. The party is attended by many wealthy and powerful people. People who are going to bring their own bodyguards and security. Do you burgle the manor at that time? Well, maybe,  but it seems like a burglary gone wrong is unlikely. It’s not a good time to burgle the house. Whoever was let in through the window must have been expected, which means whoever killed Dr. Elliot was someone he trusted or was expecting to meet. The killer had to arrive and leave in a perfect 10 minute window to avoid the security at the party.”

 

“But you think there will be some clue at his office? Why would he write down, meet with my murderer at the Wayne party is his dairy?”

 

“I don’t know what we’re going to find Sergeant, but I do know, that our best bet of finding Dr. Elliot’s killer is to look at people who know him.” Columbo turned to the waiter, “Could we get the check please?”

 

“He’s paying.” Bullock interjected. Columbo looked up at him and nodded. It was an unusual occurrence for anyone to actually let him pay for his meals on a case.

 

 

---

 

 

“Yes, that should be everything. Thank you.” Fugate handed the clipboard with a new duty schedule to the receptionist. “At least until a replacement for Dr. Elliot can be found this should ensure every patient meets with a doctor at their scheduled time. Fugate had taken care to remove the day of Dr. Elliot’s murder from his event planner. Even now that page of his planner sat carefully folded behind Fugate’s immaculately pressed handkerchief in his suit’s breast pocket.

 

“Mr. Fugate! Isn’t that a coincidence? What are you doing here?” Columbo came over and affably shook Fugate’s hand.

 

“Yeah, what are you doing here?” Bullock said in his usually abrasive tone letting a little spittle fly into Fugate’s face.

 

“I was just helping Alice rearrange the duty schedules for the doctors and nurses to cover for Dr. Elliot’s absence.” Fugate reached into his suit’s inner pocket and produced a handkerchief to wipe the spittle away before returning it to the inside of his coat.

 

“That’s very nice of you sir.”

 

“Not at all Lieutenant. Dr. Elliot’s practice has been a longtime customer of my firm. We’ve helped keep his practice efficient and overhead down. It’s not dissimilar to what Commissioner Gordon is having me do for the GCPD Sergeant. I’m sure I can find some… chaff that needs to be separated out.” Bullock scowled at Fugate.

 

“That’s terrific sir. I wish I was more efficient. Listen, you knew Dr. Elliot’s work, did he ever use your consulting for his personal life? You know outside of the medical field?”

 

“No.”

 

“Oh, well I thought, based on the fact that your card was in Dr. Elliot’s wallet…”

 

“No, Lieutenant. I didn’t interact with Mr. Elliot outside of a purely professional capacity. In fact, Dr. Elliot and I were due to renew our contract in about a month or so. I suppose Dr. Loeb or Dr. Lee will have to take over as head of the practice now. Alice, could you ask them to give me a call at…” Fugate produced a notebook and pocket watch, “5:23 PM. It shouldn’t take more than two minutes, and if they stick to the schedule I gave them, they will be available.”

 

“Gee that’s terrific how you keep everything organized. I bet you know where you were at all times.” Columbo pointed to the notebook. “May I?” Fugate handed the notebook to the Lieutenant, “Remarkable. Really this is truly special.” Columbo noted that this notebook was empty except for the two pages containing today and yesterday. Nothing dating back to the date of the murder. “Is this a new habit of yours?”

 

“No, I always keep track of where I am and what I am doing, Lieutenant. As a result, I go through many notebooks.”

 

“I can see that. Thank you.” Columbo handed the leather bound moleskine back to Temple Fugate. “May we come by later… nothing too serious, just in case we have any questions you may be able to answer.”

 

“Lieutenant, I am working for the GCPD already. I would be happy to help you out in anyway I can. Good day Lieutenant.” Fugate turned and eyed Bullock coldly. “Sergeant.” and he made his exit.

 

“Four-eyed weirdo that guy is.” Bullock commented as Columbo  began to ask the receptionist for lots and lots of record documents. Including Dr. Elliot’s personal finances. How could a Doctor, even one as brilliant as Dr. Elliot, casually wear a 400,000 dollar watch? There had to be more going on here, and the practice's finances indicated that Dr. Elliot must have additional sources of income.

 

“Sergeant Bullock, you said Dr. Elliot came from a wealthy family?”

 

“Yeah he did. He spent like crazy. Tons of investments, usually in Wayne’s competitors based on this. Some friend. You sure the butler didn’t do it?” Bullock said as he leafed through financial documents.

 

“Well sir, Mr. Pennyworth was in the company of the party at the time, and I don’t think he had a motive to kill Dr. Elliot.”

 

“Unless it was some way to help that fatcat sonuvabitch Wayne. Elliot was investing in his competition look at this… Lexcorp, Queen Industries, STAR Labs, these all aren’t Waynetech.” Bullock whistled, “It looks like he was paying Fugate a mint. Look at this, Fugate Consulting LLC 1.3 million dollars a year. I hope the commish isn’t paying through the nose like that.”

 

Columbo pondered, this case sure was going to be an interesting one.

[Callisto]

Learn More About
Lt. Columbo
Read more about Lt. Columbo at Wikipedia
Official Site: NBC Links: Wikipedia Ultimate Columbo Museum of Broadcast

Clock King
Read more about Clock King at Wikipedia
Official Site: DC Comics Links: Wikipedia DC Wikia DC Guide

[leroypowell3]

I've actually never watched Columbo so I don't know him intimately. He's the most iconic detective in television and Clock King would be a good adversary. But I honestly think the Clock King outsmarts him. 

Really I'm saying Clock King to start some stuff.

[RakaiThwei]

Mmmm... Clock King!

[DSkillz]

On 1/13/2024 at 9:40 AM, Twogunkid said:

I suppose Dr. Loeb or Dr. Lee will have to take over as head of the practice now.

Heh, I think I see what you did there.  

Good follow-up, Twogunkid. Once again, you have all the players in-character. 

As for the match, since Columbo's already well on the Clock King's trail, it shouldn't be too long before the Lieutenant unravels his plan. Batman will still likely need to bring him in, though.

 

[Twogunkid]

3 hours ago, DSkillz said:

Heh, I think I see what you did there.  

Good follow-up, Twogunkid. Once again, you have all the players in-character. 

As for the match, since Columbo's already well on the Clock King's trail, it shouldn't be too long before the Lieutenant unravels his plan. Batman will still likely need to bring him in, though.

 

Had to put a little Hush Easter Egg in there.

[Pizzaguy2995]

I see Columbo winning this. In comics the Clock King never really impressed me, he seemed less a supervillain and more just slightly above a mobster. 

[Callisto]

Match Final Results

Member Ratings:
4.40 - Pizzaguy2995
4.60 - broadwaybeyonder
5.00 - Boratz
4.60 - DSkillz

FPA Calculation:
4 Total Votes cast
18.60 Total Combined Score
18.60 / 4 = 4.65 Final Rating on the match

MATCH SCORE
Lt. Columbo: 6
Clock King: 2

[RakaiThwei]

On 1/18/2024 at 12:15 PM, Callisto said:

Match Final Results

MATCH SCORE

Lt. Columbo: 6
Clock King: 2

Hmm... Colombo had a good number going for him! Nice!

[Twogunkid]

Working on the follow up. Life has been hectic 

[Twogunkid]

Fugate breathed a sigh of relief. That oaf Columbo was no closer to catching him, but slipping in a few gaps into his own schedule to ensure that the crimelabs could find no trace of his influence was a nice touch. He still didn’t like that Columbo had latched on to that missing piece of Dr. Elliot’s schedule. A piece he had so carefully removed. It now sat precisely where it should be in Fugate’s personal favorite grandfather clock. He looked over his schedule, his next appointment was a full two minutes late. Whoever this “Maury Memento” was, he certainly wasn’t making a good impression.

 

Fugate looked around the room. He had dozens of clocks on the walls. This couldn’t be right though. Each one read a different time. That couldn’t be right. Some were off by seconds, others minutes, some hours. This can’t be. Fugate began to sweat. His own watch read that Mr. Memento had thirty seconds to be here, not enough time to fix this, his whole schedule for the day was going to be ruined.

 

“Gosh I’m sorry to interrupt like this.” Lieutenant Columbo, entering at the worst time and unwanted, strolled into Fugate’s office. “Your secretary told me you had an appointment canceled and I figured I could just slip in and I could ask you a few questions.”

 

“Lieutenant, I don't have time for your asinine interrogations right now. My consulting appointment should be here any moment-” Fugate found himself raising his voice at the Lieutenant. His eyes resting back on the Grandfather clock where his own personal schedule book from the day of the murder and the appointment book page of Dr. Elliot were carefully hidden. Surely no one had looked in there. It still read the correct time.

 

“I understand Mr. Fugate, you are a very busy man. I just have something I wanted to ask you. I won’t be more than a minute.” Columbo stopped to fumble with a lighter to ignite his cheap cigar. The slightly offbeat ticking off the adjusted clocks was eating at Fugate’s self-control. “You keep journals of all your appointments, but you still haven’t found the one for the week of the 23rd? I’d really like to lock down where Dr. Elliot was and his time with you would be a great help to me sir.”

 

“I already told you, I must have misplaced it. Regardless, I was with Commissioner Gordon at 9:01 PM and prior to that I was on my way there.” Fugate checked his pocketwatch, why was it different than his wrist watch? 

 

“Say, do you have the time?” Fugate began stammering, he wasn’t sure if he had the time or not. “Oh I forget to wind my watch all the time, but I know that watch of yours is wound, because when you let me see it the other day I wound it for you sir. Gee, you must be real distressed about that missing journal” Fugate sneered at Columbo. He had dared to wind his watch? That would throw his whole day off. Columbo walked over to the wall of clocks. “All these times are wrong sir. I’m the same way. I can’t sleep when I get a case like this. You forget the little things I guess.”

 

“I figured someone like you would have a terrific memory for times and dates, but I guess that’s why you write things down. You see sir, I checked with Dr. Elliot’s secretary about his time with your consulting firm. You were always on time. To the second, and he paid you handsomely for your consulting.” Columbo got up and began adjusting one of the wallcocks to match his personal wristwatch. 

 

“And where are you going with this Columbo?” Fugate was grinding his teeth. Where was his next appointment? It would give him the perfect excuse to get the Lieutenant out of here.

 

“Oh just observing sir. The thing is, Dr. Elliot’s watch didn’t match up with his time of death either. I figured that out by the Wayne Manor Grandfather clock. That clock loses time according to Mr. Pennyworth, so it shouldn’t have been so close to the correct time at the time of the murder and the party guests didn’t find Dr. Elliot till 9:15 with his watch reading 9:04, and the coroner fixed the time of death around nine o’clock”

 

“Well there you go, your murderer must have been there at 9 o’clock.” Fugate looked at his schedule, it was oddly free after Mr. Memento’s appointment.

 

“You see Sir,” Columbo opened the face of another clock and began to adjust it. “There is some wiggle room sir, you see the coroner is just giving their best estimate. I think Dr. Elliot was killed earlier than 9:04 about 11 minutes earlier at 8:53 PM.”

 

“What could possibly lead you to this insane conclusion?

 

“It’s just that I checked with Dr. Elliot’s accountant, they were canceling the use of your services. Nothing had been finalized and he had just talked with the accountant about it, but then I found it in his planner.” Columbo produced the small spiral calendar and flipped to a future date, “March 15th, Terminate” Columbo mumbled a bit and looked at the book. “Contract. And this sir” Columbo flipped to a different page where he had drawn a lot in pencil. “Indented writing sir. You see when someone writes with a pen or a pencil on paper they leave an indented mark. And this mark can sometimes be seen on other pages, and matching up right with the date of the 23rd is this note. Wayne Manor 8:52 PM, CK. This was when the murder took place sir.”

 

“So you need to find this CK.”

 

“You know what an incredible coincidence it was, I walked from Wayne Manor to the parking lot and then drove to the point where you met commissioner Gordon and it took me exactly 7 minutes 14 seconds to get there, but it took me 8 minutes 46 seconds to get there when I stopped to fix the time at the Grandfather clock. Commissioner Gordon reports that he met you over the police radio and that he would be busy for a bit. The time of that transmission was 9:01 PM and 51 seconds. You were a little late to that meeting. That’s very out of character for you.”

“I suppose even the best of once and while get delayed. One cannot account for every variable.”

 

“Oh I understand sir. I’m late all the time.” Columbo positioned himself in front of the clock where the fatal evidence was hid. “But did you know sir, Dr. Elliot had a nickname for you?”

 

Fugate was squirming. Columbo could bumble his way into the evidence right now.

 

“He called you the Clock King. Sometimes he even wrote CK for short, just like he did for the date on March 15th. That’s why you did it sir. He was going to fire you and tarnish your image with the public. A respected figure like Dr. Elliot firing you would no doubt have repercussions. Still, you met with him and you no doubt knew enough about some of his affairs that you could arrange a meeting at Wayne Manor under some pretext.”

 

“I do have to apologize for one thing sir. I made a fake appointment. Maury Memento, Memento Mori, Remember me? I thought the Latin phrase might make it better for you, but I just needed a time when we could meet like this. This journal here and these etchings really paint a clear picture of what happened.” Columbo opened the face of the Grandfather clock. Fugate reached into his desk drawer and produced a snub nosed revolver which he prepared to level at the Lieutenant. 

 

“Very well put together Lieutenant. Yes, I killed Dr. Elliot to hush up his plans to lay off my firm, but his practices would have never succeeded without my masterful efficiency. I’m impressed with your intentional lateness and use of inefficiency as a weapon. Yt’s a shame you broke into my office without a warrant and I feared for my life.”

 

“On the ground dirtbag!” Bullock kicked open the door to the office, and he and Montoya leveled their service weapons at Fugate. “I’ve heard enough to make sure they put you away a long time four eyes.” Fugate let the revolved drop to the ground as the two officers wrestled him down and cuffed him. Fugate internally cursed, Columbo hadn’t even needed the evidence he wrote himself about the murder, he had been outfoxed by this bumbling habitually late frumpy detective.