A/N: Again, characters are not mine—L&O characters property of Dick Wolf and NBC; Monk characters property of USA Networks (which coincidentally are ALL owned by NBC Universal…anyway…) Thanks for all the reviews! Please continue to read and review.

Chapter 2

Genius Loves Company

It's a jungle out there
Disorder and confusion everywhere
No one seems to care. Well I do.
Hey, who's in charge here?
It's a jungle out there

Adrian Monk paced the length of the crime scene. Marsha Fleck, star of the national Broadway tour of Evita, was still sprawled out on stage. As soon as the medical examiner had informed them of the probable cause of death, Captain Leland Stottlemeyer had called New York. They'd all seen the headlines that morning, and Stottlemeyer knew the cases had to be related. He returned about an hour later, a file folder in his hands.

"I just talked to the captain of the Major Case Squad in Manhattan," he told Monk and Lieutenant Randy Disher, who was at his side.

"What did he say, Captain?" Disher eagerly looked at Stottlemeyer.

"He said he'll send the lead detectives of their case on the next flight out here," Stottlemeyer said. "Also, I just got a copy of their case file…" He handed it to Monk.

Monk scanned the information in the file, frowning in thought.

"Are you sure it wasn't just a copycat case?" Disher asked the captain. Before Stottlemeyer could reply, Monk got a look on his face.

"Copycat…"

He turned and went back to his pacing, then abruptly stopped. He cocked his head to the side, and hunched up his shoulders a bit.

"Mr. Monk, what is it?" His assistant, Natalie Teeger, was by his side, and knew from the look on his face that he had thought of something important.

Monk went over to the body of the deceased actress and crouched down. He took a pencil and pointed to the earrings she was wearing. They were made of small diamonds in the shape of a horseshoe.

"Her earrings," he said. "Look at them."

Stottlemeyer and Disher knelt down.

"Diamonds are a girl's best friend…" The captain shrugged. "What about it?"

"Not just any diamonds," Monk said. "They've been advertising these earrings...Natalie what is that show that you make me watch?"

"Access Hollywood."

"Right…Nancy O'Dell says these earrings are all the rage. And very hard to get a hold of…Now look…" He opened up the Vale case file and took out the picture of the late Diana Vale. "She's wearing a pair just like them."

XXX

The next evening, after a long cross-country flight that had begun that morning, Goren and Eames landed in San Francisco. They were met at the airport by a very enthusiastic young man who was holding a sign that said, "NYPD Detectives. SFPD Welcomes You."

"Lieutenant Disher?" Alex asked the man.

Randy nodded, and stuck out his hand. "Randy Disher at your service."

"I'm Alex Eames," she said. "This is my partner, Bobby…" She grabbed Bobby, who was turned around, by the suit jacket and faced him forward. "Bobby Goren."

Bobby looked up. "Sorry…I was just…watching…the…baggage…conveyor belt…"

The men shook hands, small talk was made, and then they were off to the precinct to meet Stottlemeyer and Monk.

XXX

Adrian Monk sat at Randy Disher's desk, waiting for the lieutenant to arrive with the New York City detectives from the airport.

"You really think the other detectives are necessary?" he asked the captain.

Stottlemeyer snorted. "According to Captain Deakins, of the NYPD, Bobby Goren is one of the best on their squad, Monk. I don't think them being here will hinder us."

"I don't…think…outside help is necessary."

"Did I just hear Adrian Monk say that he's not in need of help?" a passing officer laughed.

Monk ignored him and continued to alphabetize Disher's case files. Natalie came in holding two cups of coffee. She handed one to Stottlemeyer, who was sitting nearby, and took a sip of the other one.

"Here they come." Stottlemeyer stood up.

Disher came their way with a tall, dark-haired, broad-shouldered man and a petite blond woman in tow. Monk pretended to busy himself with the files as the captain introduced himself to Goren and Eames.

"Monk, get over here," Stottlemeyer called to him. There was no avoiding it any longer. Adrian got up and went to where they all stood, staring his way.

Stottlemeyer made the introduction.

"Adrian Monk, this is Detectives Bobby Goren and Alex Eames."

Bobby held out his hand. Monk eyed him warily, and then looked for Natalie.

"Natalie," he called, and she put down her coffee and ran to him. "Kleenex," he said.

Bobby, hand still outstretched, wondered to himself about this guy, and Alex raised a brow.

Natalie reached into her purse for a tissue and handed it to her boss. He took it, and then shook Bobby's hand, the tissue serving as a germ shield. Monk let out a sigh of relief, glad that it was over. Hand-shaking stressed him out. Then he realized that the woman, Eames, was waiting, a smile on her face, hand outstretched. If he wasn't so nervous, he would have noticed the playfulness in her eyes.

"Another Kleenex," he told Natalie, handing her the first one.

She nodded, and gave him another tissue.

"And who is this?" Bobby asked softly. "Another of San Francisco's finest?"

Natalie blushed at the mistake.

"'Fraid not," she said. "Natalie Teeger. I'm Mr. Monk's…assistant."

She shook both of their hands without incident.

"Why don't we go into one of the conference rooms," Stottlemeyer said. "We can set it up as our headquarters for this case."

"Right," Bobby said. "Where should we put our luggage?" He motioned to the two small rolling suitcases that he and Eames had with them.

"Disher, take those to my office," the captain said. "Do you guys have a hotel?"

Bobby looked to Alex. Alex looked back at him and shrugged.

"While you're at it, Disher," Stottlemeyer called after him, "Get these guys a hotel somewhere nearby." He turned back to them. "Now, to the business at hand…I've had the pictures and specifics of each case set up in Conference Room B."

They followed him. On a wall in the room, the pictures and information were tacked in a timeline fashion.

Bobby and Alex went over the new information for the Marsha Fleck case.

"The…earrings," Bobby said immediately.

"Yes," Monk said. "They're both wearing the same kind."

"Those are really in vogue right now," Alex said.

"Yeah, we've established that." Stottlemeyer was surprised at Monk's cold manner. Could there be a bit of a jealous side to Adrian Monk?

Bobby sensed it too. He didn't know much about this former SFPD detective, but he knew enough to tell him that this guy was a germphobe, probably OCD, and used to having his own way about things. He had seen how quickly that Natalie woman had jumped to his aid…Goren thought to himself some more as he stared at a picture on the wall—one of the Feld crime scene. He un-tacked it from the wall and looked at it closer.

Alex watched her partner, instead of looking at photos. She knew he was thinking not of the photo he held in his hands but of this Monk guy. She watched Bobby replace the photo. He tacked it back up slightly off kilter. Just enough to be noticeably off-balance. She tried to prevent the smile that was creeping onto her face. She expected this kind of behavior from herself, or Logan. But from Bobby of all peopleWhat exactly was her partner doing?

Monk looked at the picture Bobby had just put back up, and he twitched. He tried to hold himself back, but he couldn't help it. Bobby watched Adrian Monk as he took the tack out of the photo, straightened it, and re-tacked it. Then he took the crumpled Kleenex from his hand and wiped a smudge from the photo.

Disher bumbled back into the room just then.

"I called all the area hotels and motels," he said. "They're all booked. Apparently there's some convention going on…"

"I'd invite you to stay at my house," the captain said, "But we're having it repainted…staying with my sister-in-law, unfortunately."

"I only have a one-room apartment," Randy said, clearly disappointed he wouldn't be able to host the out-of-towners.

"Gee…that's too bad," Monk said.

Stottlemeyer coughed. When Monk said nothing, the captain made the offer himself.

"I was thinking they could stay with you, Monk…"

Monk gave the captain a startled look. "But-I…they…it…"

"We're very clean, I promise," Alex said.

"I…I…umm…okay…"