That one is an especially niche happenstance but a lot of things happen to a person during the day or week, and it takes a certain kind of mind to turn those little bits of information into insights that can help solve a murder. The director focuses us on the moments which will move the story, whether that’s the random person in the elevator or the parking ticket or the dentist appointment.

Also there’s a compression that’s necessary in episodic shows, especially those old ones people didn’t stream in a binge. In a realer world, Columbo’s cheekbite might have happened a month earlier but he’d remember it when he saw the victim’s wound. In a modern show they might even have it happen 3 episodes back, because they know you will remember it from yesterday, not having to hope you recall it a month later.

Columbo is a packrat of details, observations, nuances and coincidences. And he’s expert at making smug people uncomfortable without ever being rude or claiming to know more than he does.