EPILOGUE
An armored transport vehicle arrived at Camp Pendleton with Lieutenant Steven Albright aboard. He had been picked up around forty-five minutes earlier by three armed guards and marched, in full dress uniform, out of the Naval Consolidated Brig Miramar where he had spent the last month and a half in solitary confinement due to being considered a safety risk to Adrian Monk, Natalie Teeger, and others. In that time, he had been assigned a military attorney, Commander Patricia Townes, a 35-year veteran of the U.S. Navy and leading military law expert. Commander Townes had been working with authorities to secure his release. However, the prosecution against him had won nearly every motion, as he had been caught in the act of trying to kill Monk and was known to have kidnapped Teeger. Until his trial was concluded, it was therefore assumed, Albright stood no chance of being a free man. Now, as he pulled up outside of the building which housed the courtroom where his case would be tried, it was through cold and hardened eyes that the disciplined Lieutenant stepped out of the van and was escorted up the stairs to meet his counsel.
Entering the courtroom, Albright's handcuffs were removed and he was allowed to join Townes who whispered a few words in his ear about what to expect during this pre-trial phase known as the referral. Townes had been conferring with the co-counsel whom Albright had retained, as it was clear very little was going his way. Together, they had developed a strategy for dealing with the crimes for which Steven was to be officially charged and it was here where the first steps in that strategy would be carried out.
"All Rise!" the bailiff announced as Judge Cassius Clay Anderson walked into the courtroom. Clay was a sixty-two year old Kentucky native who had transplanted himself to California in his early thirties and had served as a magistrate for nearly twenty years. Fair and unflappable, he was revered by both prosecution and defense alike for his temperament and for the professional way that he ruled his courtroom. Townes had no objection to him overseeing the case.
Steven stood and looked back towards the back door then at the empty seat next to Townes and clinched his jaw. His co-counsel had not arrived which made him very unhappy, as he was paying a hefty sum for those services. But before he could complain to Townes, the judge looked at the prosecutor, Lt. Commander Jeff Williams, and asked for a reading of the facts of the case before him.
"Yes, your honor. The case before you today is number 259N15748, the United States versus Lieutenant Steven Albright. " The prosecutor began. "Lieutenant Albright stands accused today of the following charges pursuant to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
First, in that Lieutenant Albright, while serving as a member of the United States Armed Forces in the Balkans on or about March 24, 1998, did, with premeditation, kill one Lieutenant Commander Mitchell J. Teeger, by means of a conspiracy involving two fellow-members of the United States Navy and forces friendly with the Serbian government including members of the Serbian Militia who ultimately performed the act. As such, we are charging Lieutenant Albright with a violation of 10 U.S. Code USMJ Section 918 Article 118, Murder with premeditation – punishable by death.
In addition to this…"
The prosecutor was interrupted by a small ruckus in the back of the courtroom as Albright's remaining attorney entered the area. Anderson pounded his gavel.
"Order in the court!" Anderson shouted, looking angrily back towards the man who entered. "Who, may I ask are you?" he asked.
"Many pardons, your honor." The man said. "I apologize for my tardy arrival."
Albright sighed and shook his head in anger.
"But, I was detained at the front gate and was not allowed to come in. It seems that the clerk of this court failed to get a necessary signature on my pass and it took about a half hour longer to do that in order to let me pass on by." He said, walking up to the bench. "I am the accused's civilian attorney – Harrison Powell, perhaps you've heard of me?" he said, handing the judge a business card.
Albright rolled his eyes.
"I don't give a damn about you or what your credentials are. Take your seat and see to it that you don't interrupt these proceedings again." Anderson growled.
"Yes, your honor." Powell replied, taking a seat next to Albright and quietly opening his suitcase before him.
"Counsel. Continue."
"Yes, your honor." The Prosecutor stated, once again looking down at his papers. "In addition to the charge of murder, Lieutenant Albright stands accused of violating Article 103 (a), Espionage, in that Lieutenant Albright did, beginning around January of that same year and continuing throughout the war, with intent or reason to believe it would be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of the Serbian militia, deliver certain documents containing information about troop movements to one Svetlana Yaroslav and through her to the Serbian government. Furthermore, it is alleged that Mr. Albright violated Article 103 (b) of the USMJ in aiding or attempting to aid the enemy, by delivering to opposition forces, certain armaments and supplying them with intelligence without proper authority to one whom the said Albright knew to be a member of the enemy's armed forces. For these acts of Treason, the state also seeks the death penalty."
"Thank you, Lieutenant Commander Williams." The judge responded, turning his eyes towards Powell and Townes. "Mr. Albright, are you retaining Mr. Powell and…Commander Townes, I believe it is…"
"Yes, your honor." Townes replied.
"Are you retaining them as your representation?" he continued.
Albright nodded, unblinking. "Yes, your honor." He said in a strong voice.
"Fine. Mr. Powell and Commander Townes, it is my understanding that the defendant has waived his Article 32 hearing and wishes to proceed to trial?"
"That is correct, your honor." Powell stated.
"Very well. And does the defendant wish to render a plea as to these charges at this time?"
"The defendant pleads not guilty." Powell replied.
"Let it be noted. Are there any other questions?" the judge asked.
"Yes, your honor." Powell said, standing. "I would like to request of the court that my client be released from prison pending his trial. Lieutenant Albright's two decades of service in the United States Navy have been, up until these charges, marked by a stellar record. He is being held, in part, due to allegations made by his former fiancée, Natalie Teeger, the widow of the man Albright is accused of murdering, and her employer, former Detective Adrian Monk, to whom she is now said to be engaged. It should be quite clear to the court how these relationships might indicate a certain bias in these charges being levied and as my client has not been convicted of anything, detaining him in a military prison in solitary confinement seems rather unjust."
"Your honor, I object!" Williams said, standing. "Lieutenant Albright was caught red-handed trying to murder Detective Monk in his hospital bed after nearly killing him at sea by injecting him with an antibiotic that Monk is known to be allergic to."
"Another set of accusations alleged by his former fiancée and Mr. Monk. Nobody else was there."
"Your honor, Mr. Monk did not poison himself." Williams stated.
"Mr. Powell." The judge interrupted. "Mr. Monk's reputation is impeccable and to allege that he would be lying about an attempted murder against him, particularly after the defendant also tried to kill him…"
"Allegedly…" Powell stated. "Nothing has been proven."
"He was standing over the victim in his hospital bed." Williams stated. "Multiple members of law enforcement saw him in the act."
"One of whom is Mr. Monk's best friend."
"I don't care if it was his mother! The defendant's guilt or innocence in that matter is immaterial to this case. The court finds probable cause that there is a substantial safety risk involved in your client roaming freely therefore, your request is denied. Albright will remain locked up in the facility at Miramar until his trial."
"In solitary confinement?" Powell asked. "Judge, he hasn't been convicted of anything."
"I will allow one hour of recreation a day in addition to meal times. But no more."
"Yes, your honor." Powell stated. Albright remained emotionless.
"Very well. Then it is the court's determination that this case be referred to a General Court Martial which shall take place 90 days from today in this courtroom. Court is adjourned until that time."
Back in San Francisco, Adrian and Natalie sat on a padded couch in Channel 6's news studio waiting to be interviewed by longtime San Francisco news anchor, Brandy Barber. While the rest of the news team was telling the TV audience about a shooting in Chinatown, Natalie struggled to keep Adrian still and focused as he was preoccupied by a desire to touch a microphone that was suspended around four feet above his head and just out of camera shot.
"Honey…shhhh…sit still… Adrian."
"I…I just can't…I can't stop…" he whispered, touching the boom mic again.
"You can do it." She whispered, loud enough that the news anchor telling the story became slightly distracted by her voice but not so loud as that he could hear what she was saying.
"Why…why can't I stop?" he asked, continuing to touch the mic.
Natalie leaned over and whispered something in his ear. Monk's eyes grew wide and he quickly settled down. By the time the production crew cut to the seating area where Brandy and the duo were seated, Monk was perfectly still, albeit wearing a silly grin on his face.
"Brandy?" the news anchor stated, signaling the newswoman to begin.
"Thank you, Chad. I'm here today with someone who's certainly no stranger to our Channel 6 audience, San Francisco's own decorated Detective, Mr. Adrian Monk and Adrian's assistant Natalie Teeger, whom I understand you are set to be married to this September. Is that true?"
"Um…yes…Brandy. It's true. Natalie has been such an important part of my life for so many years and well…I guess somewhere along the way, we just fell in love. I can't imagine being without her."
"That's wonderful, particularly for those of us who have followed your story. Both of you, Adrian and Natalie, have suffered the loss of a spouse under very tragic circumstances. Mr. Monk's first wife, Trudy Ellison Monk, died in a car bomb, famously at the hands of former California Judge Ethan Rickover; and Natalie, we have recently found out that your former fiancé, Lieutenant Albright, now stands accused before the court of military justice for the slaying of your first husband, Mitch Teeger in Kosovo. Is that true?"
"He doesn't stand accused." Natalie said. "He did it. Steven Albright had my husband killed and I hope he gets everything he deserves."
By now, Albright had returned to a detaining room at the prison in Miramar and was seated in a secure area waiting to be processed back in. He had a few minutes with Powell who reiterated that the reason they had foregone the Article 32 hearing was that his team already knew what evidence that they had against Albright regarding Teeger. Four of the main witnesses to the crime, Yaroslav, Chambers, Robinson, and Klondike were all dead. Svetlana's sister was said to be cooperating, but anything she knew was hearsay and Albright was aboard a ship at the time. The only real evidence they had against Steven was the diary entry, as far as Powell knew – but anything else they had would have to be made available during discovery. The last thing they wanted was for the state's legal team to go poking around and finding more, so it was to their advantage to move forward and move quickly. Powell would start immediately compiling the defense's own set of witnesses who could speak to Steven's character and his relationship with Teeger. All he needed to do was to raise enough doubt to sway the jury of Steven's peers – something that Powell was excellent at doing. Meanwhile, he would use Townes to help him around the legal nuances inherent in this being a military trial. "Don't worry." Powell stated. "You're innocent until proven guilty – and we're going to make sure that they never prove that. Trust your counsel."
Of course, Steven knew he was guilty as sin – but, in his mind he had every justification to do what he did. The United States Government switched sides – first declaring the KLA a terrorist org and then fighting along side of it. The cause itself wasn't just, it couldn't be, so what was the harm in trying to earn a little power and provision along with his service? That's what the rest of them were prone to do, wasn't it? At least, those were his thoughts. Along with this, he thought, Mitch was just one of those turncoats – collateral damage through a little 'friendly fire.' Happened all the time. Why was he therefore being tried?
The answer stood in technicolor right there on the television screen – that defective detective and his back-stabbing fiancée.
"Tell me more about that, Natalie. Things seemed to happen so fast. One minute you were at the altar with Albright and the next minute he was trying to kill you." Brandy stated.
"Yeah, well…" Natalie said. "I had a moment of temporary insanity. I was unhappy because of…well, some circumstances. I just wanted to run away from my troubles and I thought by doing what everyone else wanted me to do…except for my daughter, who was never for it, that maybe I could make that escape. When I was standing at the altar though, I knew I couldn't go through with it. Steven was someone I thought I knew because I thought he was like Mitch. In reality, he isn't even worthy enough to take out Mitch's garbage. He's an evil, psychopathic monster and I'm so happy that he's out of my life."
"Indeed. Particularly after we hear he tried to kill Adrian. How are you doing, Adrian? Are you recovering for your ordeal?"
Monk smiled. "Oh, yes. Yes, Brandy. I spent a couple of weeks at Natalie's…in a guest bedroom…no…you know…hanky-panky…"
Natalie nudged Adrian and covered her face as she blushed.
"But, Natalie took good care of me…and we'd go for walks and I built my strength back up to where now, I'm almost back up to where I once was, just a little ways more and I will be back to normal."
"That's wonderful!" Brandy responded. "Natalie, you mentioned your daughter wasn't happy about your relationship with Albright. How does she feel about Mr. Monk?"
Natalie smiled. "She loves it. She has loved him like a father for years. In fact, Adrian stood in so often for where Mitch would have, had he lived and not been murdered by that treacherous snake…" Natalie said, looking into the TV screen, but then she returned to the interview. "Adrian has in truth been Julie's surrogate father for many years and she loves him. It was 'meant to be', she says."
"How great!" Brandy smiled. "And your parents? How do Bobby and Peggy Davenport of the Davenport toothpaste dynasty feel about their daughter getting engaged so quickly?"
Both Natalie and Adrian laughed uncomfortably, looking down at the floor. Adrian took Natalie's hand as he nervously adjusted his pant leg and she answered. "They…they're getting used to it." She stated. "You have to understand, they thought I was marrying Steven. It was a shock when I left him at the altar. But, ultimately, Mom and Dad want me to be happy and Adrian makes me very, very happy." She smiled. Monk smiled back.
Albright glared at the television set even as the prison attendant brought in some paperwork for him to sign. He signed his name without taking his eyes away from the screen for even a second.
"So, tell me…what's next?" Brandy asked.
"Well, for right now." Adrian replied. "We're busy preparing for the wedding. I'm shutting down my apartment and making arrangements to sell some of my things. The rest will either go to Natalie's or we'll donate it to charity. Then, after we return from our honeymoon we'll be pursuing our new Private Investigations Agency, M&N Monk Private Investigators, in earnest. It was the brainchild of Natalie several years ago, and I thought, hey…what the heck…why not give it a go. Natalie is a brilliant detective in her own right. It's time to move forward with a new endeavor even as we begin this new chapter in our lives."
"That's terrific!" Brandy said. "Many will be happy to hear about this because we thought after what you went through, that your days as an investigator were pretty much over."
The attendant took the papers from Albright and then placed the cuffs on his hands leading him to the door. "This way, Lieutenant." The man said.
Albright raised his hand for a moment in silent request of being allowed to hear the answer.
"Oh, no. We're not done." Adrian said. "In fact, we're just getting started."
Albright's lips curled in a malevolent smile. "As am I, Adrian. As am I."