Disclaimer: Monk belongs to the USA Network

"Were you close to your brother Niles?" Monk asked the very nervous looking Mark Sluvay.

"Well, uh, actually I didn't talk to him much.  There's a fifteen-year age difference between us, so it was like we were from different worlds.  When I started Junior High he had already graduated from college and was the vice president of my dad's company."

"So, then, what was the reason that you came here this morning?"

"Uh…yesterday morning he called me out of the blue and asked me to come breakfast tomorrow.  I asked him 'why' and he just kept saying 'come to breakfast tomorrow.'  So, I finally said 'yes' since he was being so stubborn about it.  Then he said, 'Good.  See you at 7:30.'  That was the last I had heard from him.  I came over this morning and there he was, lying dead on the floor, with that phone cord wrapped around his neck."

"So, you had no idea what Niles wanted to talk to you about?"  Monk asked.

"No, no idea," Mark answered.

"Do you know of anybody in the family who collects antiques?"

"My older brother Julian collects antiques.  I told the police that the cord may have come from one of his phones."

"Okay.  Thank you, Mr. Sluvay."

Monk went back to the body to examine it more closely.  "I don't think he died from strangulation," Monk stated to Stottlemeyer.  "There's no skin under his fingernails.  There are no signs of any type of struggle.  Look at the way he's laying.  It looks like he was dragged here.  There's dirt on his backside, he may have been dragged here from the dining room.  The dining room has hardwood floors.  Also, it looks like his shoe was coming off, his heel is almost completely out of the shoe."

"Yeah, I didn't notice that before.  But I still think that it was Julian Sluvay.  We found a phone in his house that matches this cord, Monk.  We're going to interrogate him once we get back to the station."

The Interrogation

"How can you think that I killed my own brother?" Julian Sluvay cried.  "I loved him.  He took care of me better than our father did.  I would never kill him."

"Where were you last night around 10:30 Mr. Sluvay?" the captain asked.

"I was asleep in bed.  I had a hard day at work, so I went to bed early."

"Can anybody vouch for you that you were in bed?"

"No, my wife was at her book club meeting and the maid had already left."

"Does this phone cord belong to you?" the captain asked while he was holding it up.

"Yes, how did you get that?"

"Don't act like you don't know.  This is the murder weapon!"

"What?  I swear I didn't kill Niles.  We were working on a project together for the Children's Hospital.  He was funding the whole thing.  Why would I kill him?"  Julian said in a very panicked voice.

"Take him away, Lieutenant."

"Yes, sir," Disher said.

The captain went into the room that Monk and Sharona had been watching the interrogation from.  "I don't think it was him," Monk told Stottlemeyer.

"Why?" Stottlemeyer asked in an annoyed tone.

"I just don't."

"The evidence is right here Monk!  The case is closed!"