Abigail Mitchell (Columbo)

**Abigail Mitchell** (Ruth Gordon; 1896-1985) is the main villainess from *Columbo*'s seventh season opener, "Try and Catch Me" (airdate November 21, 1977).

## Backstory and Introduction

Abigail Mitchell is a famed mystery author, though her past only revealed that her niece, Phyllis, was once married to Edmund Gavin until Phyllis' sudden death in a boating accident four months prior. Though the death was deemed an accident, Abigail was insistent that Edmund killed Phyllis, even making a veiled accusation to Edmund when they were out walking on the beach. In spite of this, Abigail informed Edmund that he would be her sole heir and inherit her fortune once she passes, with Edmund expressing surprise before thanking Abigail.

With Abigail's lawyer, Martin Hammond, present, Edmund signs Abigail's new will, officiating himself as the heir to her fortune, but it was also stated that Abigail would serve as the heiress to Edmund's fortune as well. Afterwards, Abigail offers to give Edmund the combination to her large safe, with Edmund originally refusing before acquiescing due to Abigail's insistence. Also under Abigail's suggestion, Edmund returned to the house and received the combination before being sent to place the new wills inside the safe. At that moment, however, Abigail suddenly berated Edmund and repeated her accusation towards him, right before she closed the door of the safe and trapped Edmund inside.

The scenes leading to Abigail's heel turn showed that Abigail had been planning to kill Edmund in an act of revenge, and she had set up everything and acted genial to her nephew-in-law as part of her plan. The vengeful villainess spotted Edmund's car keys and buried them in the ashes of an ashtray before going on her flight, and it was during Abigail's departure that Edmund suffocated to death inside the safe. Veronica Bryce, Abigail's assistant, discovered Edmund's body, leading to police being called and Columbo being on the case. Regarding Edmund being in the safe, Abigail portrayed Edmund as an attempted thief; claiming that he was trying to steal from the safe before his accidental demise.

## Climax and Arrest

Columbo had known that Edmund drove back to the house, leading to Abigail looking to retrieve the keys from the ashtray, only to discover they had disappeared. As Abigail later learned, Veronica found Edmund's keys and used them to force Abigail to raise her salary and take her on a luxury cruise, with Abigail acquiescing before taking the keys. She was about to toss them in the sea before she was encountered by Columbo, who mentioned Phyllis' death, with Abigail stating that the police didn't fully investigate the boating accident. The climax saw Columbo confront Abigail with the evidence against her, with the villainess denying everything until Columbo revealed that Edmund, knowing that he was going to die, left clues to identify Abigail as his killer.

As Columbo uncovered, Edmund had drawn an arrow on a stack of deposit boxes, which pointed upward to a broken light bulb, which contained a strip of paper that featured the title of Abigail's manuscript. Originally, it said, "*The Night I Was Murdered* by Abigail Mitchell," but Edmund scratched the first two words, leaving the message: "I was murdered by Abigail Mitchell." Abigail confessed and attempted to coerce Columbo to overlook her actions, only for Columbo to refuse to do so. Prior to her arrest, Abigail lamented that Columbo should have been in charge of investigating Phyllis' death; adding that she wouldn't have resorted to killing Edmund if he was.