"It's for you. " Sharona told Adrian. "A Dr. Cavanaugh?"

Agitated, he furiously wiped the phone and started to talk.

"I remember you! You stole evidence from me on a case you weren't even supposed to be on!"

"Are you still mad about that?" She asked him matter of factly. The doctor's obsession with a case had taken her to San Francisco. "I need your help on an unsolved murder. The victim was a cop's wife." What she didn't mention was that said victim had been her mother.

"Why should I?" Monk was still angry.

"Two words: phantom print" the medical examiner cooed, knowing that Monk loved a good mystery.

"Phantom print?" This peaked his interest; the Medical examiner referred to a situation where fingerprints taken from the scene could not be found on any local, state or Federal databases.

"Look, given your line of work, it couldn't hurt having me owe ya a favor" Dr. Cavanaugh tried to be persuasive.

"As long as you don't steal my evidence!!" he admonished her.

"Fine, fine. How soon can I see you?" She had access to the case files and materials.

"As soon as you can. Sharona, my nurse will meet you at the airport." He told her coolly then hung up.

Sighing, Dr. Cavanaugh, or Jordan, as her friends called her, got permission from her boss to take time off, and had a friend of hers, Nigel, get her an online ticket to San Francisco. As soon as she knew her father had left the house to work at the bar he owned, she went inside the house, opened a closet, and took out a box marked 'Emily Cavanaugh.' Carefully, she put everything into several plastic bags, which she later packed into her luggage.

By the next afternoon, she met Sharona, who held a perfectly written sign that said. 'Dr. Cavanaugh.' near the baggage claim area. Sharona had recognized Jordan by her long black hair, which the doctor had mentioned when they made arrangements just prior to her flight. The sign had been Adrian's idea and doing.

"Welcome! Thanks for Coming!" Sharona said. "I'm sorry Adrian couldn't come......."

"It's okay, I understand." Jordan knew about the man's many phobias, and obsessions.

"I hope you don't mind meeting at his home?" Sharona continued. "He feels more comfortable there."

"Sure no problem."

Soon, they were at his home. Monk was straightening out some glasses in the kitchen. His back was towards the two women.

"Adrian.....Dr. Cavanaugh's here....."

"Oh!" He continued his task for a bit longer.

Some time later, Jordan had all the materials set up for Monk, including a clear, plastic sheet that had the phantom print.

In his immaculate living room, Monk wiped, and looked at various things, noticing that there seemed to be a resemblance between the victim and Jordan. That combined with identical last names made him realize the depth of this case.

"I see….she was your mother…."

"Yeah…."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was afraid that you wouldn't take the case if I had."

Monk just gave her a dirty look.

"How did you get these files?" he asked, suspiciously.

"My dad had them. He used to be a cop."

"Does he know you have them?"

"Look, can you help me or not?"

"How could you steal this from him??" Adrian became angry again, thinking about how he'd feel if someone had taken his files on Trudy.

"He doesn't like to talk about it."

"Adrian…….it's her mother" Sharona whispered.

After some moments, Monk sighed and said. "I'll take a look at these files, and we can talk tomorrow."

"Sure..."Jordan tried to hide her impatience.

For the next two hours, Monk studied the materials, focusing mostly on the plastic transparency with the fingerprint. With his powerful ability to see what others miss, he noticed discrepancies, when he mentally compared it to fingerprints he'd seen.

"This fingerprint is fake." He concluded. "See…..

"What??" Sharona interrupted as she didn't believe him. "This murder happened in 1979!"

"That's the problem" Monk frowned.

"Why do a fake fingerprint, when it's safer not to leave any??" She asked, looking at the transparency.

"To leave a false trail"

"What??" Jordan exclaimed angrily when she heard the verdict the next day. Adrian covered his ears and cringed.

"Could you please lower your voice?" he asked her.

"You've got superman vision too??" She asked in an enraged tone.

He, over the course of three hours tried to show her the various idiosyncrasies that proved this fingerprint was indeed a fake. She asked quite a few questions, and had trouble seeing a lot of his observations.

"Can you see it now?" Adrian started to get impatient.

"It's impossible for a person to change or get rid of their fingerprints!" Jordan protested, now doubting her decision to see Monk.

"I'm talking about someone making a template, then using it to mark the crime scene."

"Of course…that makes more sense…" Jordan began to understand. "You'll need to come to Boston to visit it."

Monk winced, and shifted his widened pupils in anxiety. Traveling meant having to fly , be in close proximity to overwhelming noises, encounter God knows how many germs, and worst of all, grapple with heights

"I've already got pictures of the crime scene right here!" he told her.

"Look, I've got friends in the press. Solve this case, and you just might be more sought after."

"And you'd owe me favors?"

"Yes"

After much haggling, Adrian relented. So, the three of them went to Boston.

After Sharona, and Adrian settled in, Jordan took them in her car to her father's bar. It was quite nice, with mostly wooden tables, and chairs. Sharona and Monk noticed a tall, chubby, light haired man serving drinks to a couple.

"Wait here." She told them.

The semi- emptiness of the bar, kept Adrian relatively calm.

"Hey Jordan!" Max greeted her.

"Hey dad! I'd like you meet to a couple of people"

"Oh?" He was interested, as he found Sharona attractive.

"Have you ever heard of Adrian Monk?"

"Vaguely why?"

"I've…asked him to help with mom's murder"

He glared at her from the serving side of the counter and whispered harshly "When were you planning to tell me this?" It angered him that she'd make this decision without telling him.

"I am now. Dad, this guy is brilliant! Talk to him!" Jordan told him. She'd read about some of Monk's cases.

"I've been through the evidence and everything else a thousand times." Max told her curtly, as he saw the man compulsively fix the chairs around the bar so that they'd be equidistant to their table companions. He also took it upon himself to wipe the tables. These tasks kept Adrian from really paying attention to their conversation, despite his ultra sensitive hearing. Sharona just groaned and waited patiently.

"This guy sees things that everyone else just passes over."

"Like invisible dirt?" Monk's actions had gotten on Max's nerves.

"Two months ago, he solved a cold case twice as old as mom's!"

"Did he now?" Max sighed. "Fine, let's see what he's made of."

"He has a bit of a germ phobia, and he's obsessive compulsive." She warned

"I hadn't noticed." The bar owner retorted.

TBC