A high school girl who needs a ride accepts one from a boy she doesn't know. He then forces her to participate in a robbery, in which a clerk is killed. They are soon caught, and the girl, despite her protestations of innocence, is convicted of first-degree murder and sent to prison. Once she gets there, she finds out that her troubles are just beginning.

When the President's plane mysteriously disappears with him on board, it is left to the seemingly weak Vice President to try to avert a nuclear exchange with the Chinese.

Columbo is a friendly, verbose, disheveled-looking police detective who is consistently underestimated by his suspects. Despite his unprepossessing appearance and apparent absentmindedness, he shrewdly solves all of his cases and secures all evidence needed for indictment. His formidable eye for detail and meticulously dedicated approach often become clear to the killer only late in the storyline.