Adrian and Natalie quickly walked out of the police station and went to retrieve her car. As the two moved closer to the parking lot, Monk began talking to her and walking backwards with a smile on his face, asking his girlfriend if he could drive. Despite how cute and excited he looked, Natalie's answer was a resolute no. A dejected Adrian then turned around and sulked his way to her car, sliding into the passenger's side seat of her silver SUV.

They arrived a short time later at Pier 41, an area in the northeast corner of San Francisco's Central District near Fisherman's Wharf. The area had been cordoned off, and emergency personnel swarmed all over the site. Natalie wasn't sure that she'd ever get used to going to murder scenes, even after working side-by-side with Adrian and the SFPD for so long. It broke her heart to see what the victims and their families had to go through.

Leland led the way onto the pier and he and Randy stepped forward to speak to another police captain. Adrian and Natalie followed, but when she took a step backwards to stand behind Monk in deference to his consultant position, he tugged on her hand and brought her back to his side. She belonged beside him, not behind him.

Adrian continued to hold Natalie's hand, out of view of the other officers, and gave it a gentle squeeze. Leland and Randy treated Natalie with respect and recognized her contributions to their small team, but it wasn't that way in other jurisdictions. She often went unacknowledged and ignored. But at least he could show his support and show her that he appreciated her being there and everything that she did.

"Commander Stottlemeyer, Captain Disher. Glad you could make it on such short notice," said Captain Jeff Lewis of the San Francisco Port Patrol. He nodded towards Adrian and Natalie. "And you must be the famous Adrian Monk. I've heard many good things about you." Monk merely nodded.

Stottlemeyer got down to business and addressed the other officer. "Lewis. What have we got here?"

"Body was found down there. Young man, a couple of bullet holes in his chest. He'd been shot," Lewis said, nodding toward the end of the pier.

Leland blinked several times, unsure of what to say to the captain's evident deduction. "Clearly," he responded, shaking his head. "Do we have an I.D.?"

"Yes, sir. His wallet was found inside his hip pocket and we've identified the victim as Joshua Landrum, nineteen years old, lives over on Chestnut Street but was working with the theater group here near the Wharf. His I.D. is a college student I.D. from Berkeley, so we are assuming he went to school there."

The sarcastic comment of Good assumption Captain Obvious was on the tip of Leland's tongue, but he bit back the retort.

Natalie dragged Adrian a few steps backward. "Adrian, Josh Landrum went to school with Julie! He was the male lead in her play, remember?"

Lewis overheard her conversation. "Yes ma'am. We've been able to conclude so far that the deceased was involved with the theater program at Berkeley, which fits, because our suspect is a member of that same group. There was a witness that saw the woman leaning over the victim's body. She allegedly dropped the weapon and then when she saw the witness, she ran from the scene."

Stottlemeyer asked Randy to get out his notebook and write everything down. Call it instinct or intuition, he already didn't trust this Lewis character or his police force.

"There was a witness?" Leland asked.

"Yes, sir. His name is Desmond Shanks and he works the trolley. We finished interviewing him a few minutes before you arrived. He's been advised not to leave the city in case we need to ask more questions," Lewis said.

He pulled his notebook from his back pocket to make sure he told the Commander everything. "Witness stated that he had clocked in for his two o'clock shift when he heard a scream. He ran to the pier and from about forty feet away he saw a woman standing over the victim, holding a gun. The woman was described as in her twenties and close to five feet seven inches tall. She was wearing a yellow dress, looked from the 1940s or 50s. He immediately ran back to where he clocked in and called 911."

"Dressed in vintage clothing? That ought to distinguish her," Randy muttered. "What time was the call made?"

Lewis flipped to another page in his notebook. "Shanks' time-card showed that he clocked in to work at exactly two o'clock and dispatch received his call three minutes later. At that time, he returned to see if the suspect was still there, and according to his testimony, the suspect looked up and saw him and took off running towards the west. We caught up with her three blocks away covered in blood. We won't know until it is tested, of course, but we're sure it will come back as a positive match for the victim's blood. Suspect was hysterical. She's being questioned now by the Port Patrol in that boat down there while we're waiting on forensics. We've already tested her hands for powder residue and the test came back positive. Our suspect is the one that fired the weapon. We're just waiting on the fingerprint match."

Adrian raised his hand. Commander Stottlemeyer knew what Monk was thinking, what they were all thinking. "Take us to the scene so we can look around."

"Yes, sir." Lewis led the way down the pier. Leland walked at his side and the three others followed behind. They arrived at the crime scene and saw the deceased laying on his side. It was obvious that he had indeed been shot more than once in the chest at close range. There was a coroner standing about waiting to be given the okay to transport the body to the morgue.

Leland shook his head and immediately pointed to where there were clear footprint tracks stamped in blood on the ground. Several footprints were likely made by the feet of emergency personnel at the scene. "There are footprints all over this crime scene, including some near the body. Look over there! Why was this scene not properly secured?"

Lewis swallowed, aware of Stottlemeyer's notorious temper. "It was secured, sir, and forensics was here and took the pictures and got the evidence we needed. The tape was taken down a little later without my knowledge. Wilson's just a rookie, you know how rookies are. They get overexcited."

"Mr. Lewis, as captain YOU are the one responsible for making sure that a crime scene remains secure, especially when the body is still here, and you are responsible for the behavior of your officers. You should be well aware of your duties. Thanks to your negligence this crime scene may already be compromised. I hope for your sake that isn't the case or else we could be looking at a lawsuit - that is, if your suspect doesn't find herself a halfway decent lawyer and get herself acquitted thanks to what you've allowed to happen."

"Understood, Commander. I take responsibility for my men and it won't happen again. But, I'm confident in my guys that they got everything that we need."

"Not everything," Monk interjected, crouching down besides the victim's body and using his handkerchief to carefully lift the victim's wrist. Underneath that small patch of ground was a torn fragment of blue plastic sheeting. Leland merely glanced at Lewis and Randy stepped closer as Monk used tweezers to pick up the missed evidence.

"Huh," Lewis said after a moment of silence. "Don't know how we missed that. What is it?"

Adrian looked up at the captain. "Looks like some sort of polyester sheeting. It's pretty scuffed up and there is a ridge right here, do you see?"

Lewis leaned down and looked at the fragment, then Randy peered closer at the sheeting and half-smiled at Monk. Monk was the best in the city. Having Monk as a consultant on their force made every one of them - him, Leland, the other detectives - better. "You mean, like someone was walking on it?" Randy said. "Looks like the tip of someone's shoe."

Adrian nodded and allowed Randy to help him to stand so he wouldn't have to touch the dirt. "Exactly, Captain Disher." He nodded towards Lewis. "Captain, please have your team bag this and place it into evidence."

Leland waited until Monk was standing and stable. "Do you mind if we have a few words with this suspect of yours, Captain Lewis?"

"Of course not, Commander," he immediately responded. "Your team is invited as well. Follow me."

The team arrived at the boat and Lewis went below deck, returning a few minutes later with Eric Holman, a career veteran for the Port Patrol. Holman came forward and extended his hand for Commander Stottlemeyer and thanked him for coming.

The officers spoke for a few moments and Holman and Lewis briefed Leland on what evidence they found and what they learned from the suspect thus far. The suspect, Holman told Stottlemeyer, proclaimed her innocence as they all did at first and now had stopped talking, demanding to see her mother and a lawyer.

"She's lawyering up so soon?" the Commander mumbled under his breath. "That's not a good sign."

"Our thoughts exactly," Holman said. Lewis nodded his head in agreement. "Commander, I'm happy to see you on our lowly little patrol, but it looks like we wasted your valuable time. This case is an open-and-shut, slam-dunk, home-run-bases-loaded-in-the-bottom-of-the-ninth case. The victim's blood was found on the suspect and we are pretty sure that once the gun is tested it will show the suspect's fingerprints. We've got forensics on that right now. The victim and the suspect were known associates at school, verified by the suspect. Phone records will also prove that they were in contact on a regular basis. We aren't sure, she won't tell us, but we are pretty sure she was romantically involved with our victim."

"Why would you assume that?" Randy asked.

"Found a note in the victim's pocket. Looks like he was about to break up with her," Lewis replied, reaching over to an assistant for an evidence bag containing a note.

Please forgive me. I never meant to hurt you, but like I told you when we talked before, I can't see you when I'm in love with someone else. I hope we can still be friends or at the least, work together at the theater - Josh

"Jealous rage is what I'm thinking, Commander. At this age, almost anything could have set her off. We're looking into the possibility that the deceased might have had another girlfriend besides the suspect."

In spite of the appearance that this was an open-and-shut case Leland had a nagging feeling that told him not to trust Holman and Lewis, Lewis especially, and not to merely take them at their word. He followed them below deck, motioning for Randy to follow behind. Natalie and Monk followed Randy.

Holman opened the door to a room on the right at the far end of the corridor. The room was small, not unusual for a stateroom on a boat. Two police officers flanked the door and stood at attention, their backs against the wall. Another officer was standing in front of the suspect. All anyone could see of the suspect was the skirt of a blood-soaked yellow dress and hands fidgeting with a tissue, twisting it around her fingers. Leland nodded to the questioning officer but froze when the officer stepped backwards and he got a clear view of the bloodied and dirty teen. The witness had been wrong when he claimed the suspect was somewhere in her twenties. She wasn't. She was a teenager - eighteen, to be precise. And the only reason Leland Stottlemeyer knew the suspect's age as well as he knew his own name was because he knew this suspect. So did Randy. Both of them were dumbstruck.

Monk and Natalie soon walked into the room and Natalie's astonished gasp was all they heard. "Julie?!"

Julie Teeger immediately looked up and pushed back her chair, running frantically into her mother's arms, sobbing.

The two officers that stood guard immediately drew their weapons and pointed them toward Julie. "FREEZE! BACK IN YOUR SEAT NOW! STEP AWAY AND SIT BACK DOWN!"

Stottlemeyer commanded the two officers to stand down, unless they wanted him to take their badges, and Monk immediately stepped in front of both Teeger women with Randy joining him at his side. Leland demanded an explanation for what he had just witnessed and Holman explained to the commander and his team that Julie was the suspect in question.

Lewis walked towards a furious Commander Stottlemeyer. "Sir, like we've explained to you, this woman was found three blocks away from the murder scene and as you can clearly see, she is covered in blood. We both know the blood-type analysis will show that it is a match to Joshua Landrum, our victim. She's got powder residue on her hands and she matches our height-weight description of the assailant that the witness saw. Your team is more than welcome to speak with him at your convenience. What she's wearing matches what we were told. She's the right one, sir."

Leland was silent as he digested all that he had just heard. Julie clung tightly to Natalie, sobbing. "Mom, I didn't do it! Tell them I didn't do it!"

Monk spoke sharply to Lewis and Holman. "Gentlemen, you are clearly mistaken and the evidence you say you have is wrong. Julie Teeger is not a murderer. She's very gentle, she could never hurt anyone."

Just then, there was a knock at the door and another officer entered, bringing with him an evidence bag that contained the murder weapon, and also a note, to Holman. Holman nodded at the officer and read the note, then handed it to Commander Stottlemeyer. Leland motioned for Randy to come stand beside him. Monk had no intention of leaving Natalie or Julie's side and they wouldn't ask him to. Stottlemeyer and Disher both read what the note said and Randy looked at the floor. Leland rubbed his face with his hand and couldn't look Monk in the eye at that moment.

Holman took over. "You are wrong, Mr. Monk. This is the official report from the forensics lab that shows a complete match for the fingerprints of Julie Teeger to the fingerprints found on what is likely the murder weapon." He handed the evidence bag to Lewis and reached inside his pocket for his notebook and began to read the Miranda Rights. "Juliette Elizabeth Teeger, you are under arrest for the murder of Joshua Landrum. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?"

One of the officers forcibly removed Julie from Natalie's arms and forced her hands behind her back to handcuff her. Natalie buried her face in Adrian's shoulder and cried.

"MOM!" Julie cried as the officers pulled her further and further away from her mother and Adrian. "Mommy! Adrian! Don't let them take me, you know I didn't do it!"

Natalie lifted her head from Adrian's shoulder, her face stained with tears and fresh tears streaming down her face the more Julie screamed for her to help her. "Leland! Please…do something!"

"Holman, can't you get that kid to calm down?" snapped an irritated Lewis. Julie was struggling desperately against the officers' strong grasp and the more she struggled, the more the handcuffs tightened against her skin. Monk stared at Leland pleading with him to intervene. Leland stepped forward, closer to Julie.

"Officers, out of respect for me, I ask you to take your hands off of the suspect and release her from the handcuffs. She's frightened and you're making it worse. Please. We will take her in, Captain Disher and myself. You have my personal pledge that she won't escape. We'll bring her to headquarters and she will be questioned properly."

Lewis and Holman both shook their heads. "Our jurisdiction, Commander."

"I have no problem pulling rank on both of you," Commander Stottlemeyer said tersely, his patience already gone.

Holman and Lewis looked at Stottlemeyer in disgust but bit their tongues in consideration for their jobs and motioned for their police officers to release Julie from her restraints. They told the commander it was his job on the line and they would file a formal complaint if anything funny happened and the suspect was not at headquarters within the hour, then they left the room.

Natalie immediately hugged Julie as soon as she was free from her handcuffs, but Leland took a step forward and Natalie panicked, looking at her boyfriend helplessly. "Take her in? Adrian, why does he have to take her in?!"

Adrian hesitated. Natalie was smart and she'd been around the police world long enough, she knew what needed to be done. Monk saw how the circumstantial case was strong enough and damning enough to hold Julie for further questioning and perhaps even an overnight stay in jail while the officers decided what charges they would press.

"Natalie, sweetheart, it's standard protocol. I'm sure it won't take long for them to realize that they jumped to the wrong conclusion and have the wrong guy, or girl. It's all going to be okay, I promise." He said it as much for Natalie as he did for Julie. "Julie, it's okay. Leland and Randy will take care of you. It's okay. You can trust them."

"You can't let them take Julie to jail!" Natalie cried.

Leland took another hesitant step forward and reached for Julie. Natalie instinctively stood in front of Julie, protecting the teenager from his hands.

"Natalie, don't make me do this," he muttered, and Natalie glared at him but took a step back and nodded that it was okay for Julie to go with him.

Stottlemeyer tried to explain. "Natalie, we have to take her. You heard the officers. Look at your daughter. Julie's covered in blood and you and Monk told us she knows Josh from the play. Her fingerprints are on the murder weapon, and there's a witness who said he saw her running from the scene of the crime."

"He doesn't believe me either, mom!" Julie sobbed. "Mom! Commander Stottlemeyer is your friend and Adrian's friend, why doesn't he believe me?!"

Natalie blinked back angry tears. "Leland, YOU KNOW HER! You know she didn't do this! You know it's all a mistake! You saw how they messed up the crime scene out there!"

Leland sighed. How had all of this gotten so messed up so fast? "Natalie, I'm sorry. Really, I am. But you know that we must take her in. Julie would be in so much more trouble if we didn't."

Adrian immediately stepped in front of Natalie and stood eye-to-eye with Leland. "I'm going with you. I won't let Julie be alone."

"She won't be alone, Monk, she'll be with us," Randy said quietly. "You know we'll take care of her."

Natalie grabbed for Adrian's hand. "I'm coming too. Don't mess with me, Leland."

"Natalie, Monk is a city employee. You're the suspect's mother," Leland said quietly. "You can't - "

"Would you stop calling her that?!" Natalie screamed in frustration, screaming in Leland's face and grabbing his shirt sleeve. "She's not a suspect. She's Julie. You know her! You've known her since she was eleven years old! She didn't kill anyone!"

Leland looked at his friend and mouthed that he was sorry, hoping that Monk would understand and not hold this against him, and that Monk would be able to explain it to Natalie. Sighing, the commander took a step back and took Natalie's hands off his shirt.

"Natalie, please don't make this harder for us. Randy and I will take care of her and I will call you personally and explain everything just as soon as I can. You have to trust me. You have to trust me to take care of Julie." Natalie was quickly becoming hysterical and Leland didn't blame her. This was a catastrophic mistake. Leland nodded to Randy and they walked with Julie towards the stairs.

Adrian immediately went to Natalie and took her in his arms. "They'll take care of her and I'll be with her for as long as I can be. I'll make sure Julie knows not to tell whoever interviews her anything until we get her a good lawyer. I don't think they'll let Leland and Randy question her. But sweetheart, I promise you that we'll get Julie out and she'll be back home soon."

He kissed Natalie on the forehead and then on the mouth, moving his arm to her waist and leading her slowly up the stairs and out of the boat to the dock, the pier, and finally to Leland's squad car. Randy was never far from Julie's side and Leland was on his cell phone.

"You're where?" Natalie heard Leland saying to whoever he was talking to. "Five minutes away, great, thank you, honey. Please get here as soon as you can. I love you. See you in a few minutes."

Leland hung up the phone and walked closer to where Monk and Natalie were huddled together, Monk's arm around Natalie protectively. "Natalie, I called T.K. to come get you and drive you home. I'm sorry that I have to - "

Natalie folded her arms across her chest and turned away from her longtime friend.

"...well, I'm just sorry," he finished, knowing it was inadequate but it was all he had. "I hope you'll be able to forgive me."

Natalie walked away, towards Julie and Randy. Adrian walked up to Leland and looked him directly in the eyes. "I will explain it all again to Natalie. I don't like it that you're doing this, but I understand why and so does she. She does, she's just - frightened. But Leland, you and I both know Julie is not the guy. They made a mistake."

Leland struggled to come up with an answer. The evidence the police officers had against Julie was so much and so great, but if anyone knew about evidence that looked to be one thing but was in fact another thing, it was Monk. "If Julie is innocent, buddy..."

"Leland! No ifs! You KNOW she's not the guy, and you are going to help us exonerate her of this crime, aren't you?"

Leland took a frustrated breath and looked at his best and oldest friend. "Monk. I'll do everything in my power that I can do without compromising the case."

T.K. arrived soon thereafter and right away ran to Natalie, putting her arms around her as they watched Leland gently instructing Julie to follow him and get in the back of his squad car. Monk followed at a close distance and immediately slid into the backseat beside Julie and Natalie watched through the window at the back of the car as he bent his head down to talk to Julie quietly. Adrian put his arm around Julie and Randy frowned at the personal and not-at-all-professional interaction, and shut the door. He got into the front passenger seat and Leland Stottlemeyer drove away, taking Julie with him.

Natalie burst into tears all over again as soon as the car left and she and T.K. were alone, pressing her face into T.K.'s shoulder. T.K. rubbed her back sympathetically, knowing there was nothing she could say that would make this better. "I know my husband, Natalie," she assured her friend. "He and Randy and Adrian will fix this and clear Julie's name. She'll be home with you soon, sweetie. You just have to have faith."