Mr. Monk and the Missing Teacher
As usual, Julie Teeger was dropped off at her school by her mother on a dreary Monday morning. She met up with one of her best friends, Emily, at the door of the school. Emily looked slightly worried.
"What's wrong?" Julie questioned, shifting her backpack on her shoulders as she waved goodbye to her mom.
"It's Mr. Baker- he's not here today."
"Okay, so…"
"So he's not at home, either, he's not anywhere! He's missing!"
"What? Wait- how do you know?" Julie said, confused.
"The prinicipal- she just made an announcement."
"So we're not having school, right? I mean, Mr. Baker's missing! How could we?"
"No, we are. There's a substitute." Emily sighed.
"This is horrible! First Coach Hagen, now Mr. Baker? But he's just missing. Maybe Mr. Monk can help us find him."
"Mr. Monk?"
Adrian Monk flinched at the sound of his telephone.
"Every time I hear that phone, it's ringing!" He said aloud to himself, carefully removing a wipe from it's package and gently picking up the phone.
"Hello. This is Adrian Monk speaking. What's the purpose for your call?"
"Mr. Monk! It's Natalie. One of Julie's teachers went missing. It's on the news right now, turn on the television!"
Monk did as instructed, dusting the T.V. off as a news reporter began speaking.
"Arnold Baker, a writing teacher at this Junior High," the woman motioned to the building behind her, "Has gone missing. He didn't call in sick today, and since the principal said that that was highly unusual for him, she called the police. No one has seen him since Friday night, and all of his belongings such as his car, wallet, and cell phone are at his house. We don't know what happened, but this is certainly big news. We'll keep you updated. This is Tippy Bergen, San Francisco News."
"I can't believe it." Natalie sighed.
"I know. The news reporter's hair cut was all lopsided. I think she needs to go to another hairdresser."
"No, Mr. Monk, about Mr. Baker. He just went missing! What would somebody want with him? He was just a writing teacher!"
"I don't know, Natalie, I guess you'll have to worry about it. I have to vacuum."
"Mr. Monk." Natalie said firmly, as if scolding him, "You know what you have to do."
"Yes, I have to get rid of these particles of germs. Now."
"Mr. Monk! You have to help find him! You're the best detective in San Francisco, and the only one who will figure out where he is. It would mean a lot to Julie."
"I'm sure it would. I'm sure it would."