"Natalie, thank God!" Monk yelled when he spotted her on the pier. "I thought you'd never get here!"

"Mr. Monk, you just called me..." she looked at her watch. "32 minutes ago."

"I know! 32 minutes! You said you'd be here in 30 minutes!" Monk said.

"Mr. Monk, that was an estimate!" Natalie said.

"But you didn't say 'estimate' on the phone." Monk said.

"Hey! I made pretty good time, though." Natalie said. "I'm only two minutes late!"

Monk scoffed. "Two minutes... that's like a lifetime."

"Good morning, Kids!" Captain Leland Stottlemeyer said as he and Randy Disher approached them.

"Good morning, Captain." Monk said. "We got here as quickly as possible." He glared at Natalie. "Well, at least I did."

"Mr. Monk!" Natalie yelled.

"Are we finished, boys and girls?" Leland asked.

"What's going on, Captain?" Natalie asked.

"Well, we've got another murder on our hands." Leland said.

Natalie sighed. Although she liked the extra pay, it almost wasn't worth it, knowing that for every job she and Mr. Monk handled, there was one more murder in San Francisco.

"Another murder?" She asked.

"I'm afraid so." Randy said. "Well, it's job security, anyway!"

Natalie's eyes widened. "Randy! That's a terrible thing to say!" To Leland she asked,

"Who was the victim?"

Randy read from his notebook. "John Seymore. Age 32, was a worker on the dock, here. The body was almost unrecognizable."

"Oh my God..." Natalie said. "Was he married? Did he have any kids?"

Randy looked at his notebook. "It doesn't say."

"Looks like we'd better get to work." Monk said.

"Monk's absolutely right." Leland said. "Kids, you check out the entryways and alleys up here, and Randy and I are gonna go question the dock workers. See if any of them know anything."

"Yes sir!" Natalie said. "Come on, Mr. Monk."

They walked around each area of the pier, as Monk used his hands to scan for any clues. Suddenly, faint barking noises could be heard from the water's edge.

"What is that noise?" Monk asked.

"Let's check it out." Natalie said excitedly. Upon closer inspection, they found that the barking was coming from a group of sea lions.

Monk gasped in shock at the sight of the furry creatures.

"Oh, look!" Natalie said. "Aren't they cute?"

"Cute?" Monk said, holding his ears in agony. "They sound like gigantic dogs! Make them stop!"

"Aww... look, Mr. Monk." Natalie said as she moved closer to the sea lions. "They're saying 'hello'!"

"They're filthy!" Monk exclaimed, pointing to the sea lions. "Look at that! They're eating fish right off of the pier!"

"Hmm..." Natalie said. "You're absolutely right, Mr. Monk. I'll just go over to that kitchen shop and buy them some plates."

"Okay. What kind should we get?" Monk asked.

"Mr. Monk, I was kidding!" Natalie said. "Come on, we need to get back to work!"

They continued to search for clues, but with nothing to go on, Natalie was becoming frustrated. She decided to do some deeper digging... without Mr. Monk.

Monk was hard at work, using a pair of tweezers to sift through a pile of debris.

"Ugh! This is disgusting!" He was saying. "This place should be condemned."

Noticing that Monk was completely immersed (almost literally) in his work, Natalie snuck away and crept into a nearby alley.

Bingo. A clue...

"Mr. Monk!" she yelled, bending down to pick up the gun. "I found something!"

She looked around to make sure she was alone. "Mr. Monk!" She yelled again.

"Mr-AHHHHH!"

Before she knew what was happening, she felt a hand over her mouth and was being dragged along the ground. The hand moved for a split second, and she managed to scream again.

"Natalie!" Monk yelled. His footsteps could be heard approaching the alley. "I'm coming!"

Natalie opened her eyes and saw Monk holding a gun.

"Let her go." Monk said, aiming the gun directly at Natalie's captor.

Natalie gasped as the man pulled out a knife and held it to her throat. She had never been so scared in her life.

"Well, well... said the man. "If it isn't Adrian Monk and his lovely assistant, Natalie Teeger!"

Monk walked closer to the man, never moving his gun away.

"P-please... don't kill me." Natalie said. "I have a daughter."

"Now, isn't that sweet?" The man said, tightening his grip around Natalie's body. "Too bad your daughter is going to be an orphan soon.

Without warning, Monk pointed his gun in the air and fired a shot.

"That wasn't very smart, Monk." The man said. "Say goodbye to Natalie Teeger."

"NO!" Monk yelled. A sudden rage seemed to fill him as he ran toward the man, knocking him to the ground.

"Hands on your head!" Leland yelled. Randy was right behind him, picking the man off the pavement. He cuffed the captor and pushed him toward the police car.

"Get this scum out of here!" He told the officer.

Leland motioned to the backup officers. "Good job." Get the body down to forensics so we can close this case."

He looked at Monk. "Well, Monk. Another excellent job."

Monk blushed. "Well, Captain... I really didn't do anything."

"Sure you did." Leland said with a smile.