I totally disagree. I always thought that after Columbo’s initial inspection and meeting the murderer he was well aware of who did it. He knew the name of the killer almost right from the beginning. Just needed to trick him/her into revealing themself.
I was a kid in the 70’s and some of my favorite shows came out of that time
Columbo
Rockford Files
Quincy
I remember loving Ellery Queen but did a rewatch a decade or so ago and it didn’t hold up. I don’t think they gave any actual real clues to figure out who did it.
Liked
Mannix
Cannon...