Season 1998, Episode 1: Ashes to Ashes - Celebrity mortician Eric Prince murders his former lover, tabloid reporter Verity Chandler, to prevent her from exposing his past crimes. He disposes of her body by cremating it in place of a recently deceased war hero, Chuck Houston. Columbo uncovers the truth when shrapnel from Houston's leg is found in another man's ashes, proving the body switch and Prince's guilt.