Calven Clements, Jr., wrote 11 episodes for the series, and this is one of his best efforts. He also wrote many episodes for GUNSMOKE, later DALLAS.
Another one of those puzzlers for Barnaby, and so much fun to solve. Wayne Rogers plays Gil, accused in the drowning death of his wife on a boat in the middle of the lake --and there's lots of witnesses? Interestingly, he has a friend in a pretty lady called Sharon (Stephanie Powers), who proves quite valuable to him in so many ways. Do the math.
An extremely clever story that has Barnaby eventually realizing he's been hoodwinked. Won't be the first time it's happened, still it's neat to watch him outwit a guy who thinks he's staged the perfect crime. And it comes very close to THE perfect crime.
Good support from Daniel Travanti (Lon), and also two veteran actresses; Irene Tedrow and Helen Kleeb (the WALTONS), both familiar faces on tv for decades. Wayne Roger's lawyer is Bill Erwin, who also had a long career, in later years playing bickering old guys in sitcoms. He was a hoot.
I agree with the last reviewer, it's rather curious as to why Sharon would keep her wig, which would be valuable evidence. Bragging rights, possibly, but she and Gil are walking a thin line here. After all these years, that scene still sticks out.
According to production notes, Stefanie Powers actually wore two wigs, which must have required a top flight hairdresser.
Beautifully filmed at Malibou Lake, Agoura, California, about 40 miles from Los Angeles, near Thousand Oaks. The lake was used in many films and tv shows with good reason.
SEASON 2 EPISODE 3 remastered CBS/Paramount dvd box set. Classic edition.