"So ya got to see the President?! What's he like" gushed Sharona Disher as the 6 friends sampled appetizers at The Cove, a hot D.C. eaterie near the Treasury Department.
"Tall." said Adrian.
"And very friendly. Outspoken." said Natalie.
"He has a commanding presence. You know you're in the room with someone in authority." Monk continued.
"Did you see his wife? Do you know how she's doing?" T.K. asked.
"Oh yeahhhhh. That was awful." Sharona said "How is she?"
"No. We didn't' get to see her." said Monk. "The President said that she is pretty shaken up by the course of events from yesterday. I am going to try to get an audience with her though."
"Of course, she's shaken up." Said Leland. "Anyone would be. Hey Monk, how 'bout it?"
"What's that?" Adrian asked.
"Is she the guy?" Stottlemeyer continued.
"Yeah, did she do it?" said Randy, joining in on the conversation. "I never did trust her."
"No, Randy, Captainsssssss. I do not believe she's the guy. I think she was set up." Answered Adrian.
"Why would they want to do that?" asked T.K.
"This is D.C." Sharona interrupted. "One big political war."
Monk listened as the couples laughed and talked. They talked about the case, and about the trip to space, and then they talked about little Ophelia and kids. They talked about old times and about sweet memories of days gone by. They had been through the best of times and the worst of times and had stayed together through thick and thin. He could not have asked for a better group of people to be around, a people who accepted him for who he was – even more than he accepted himself.
He looked over at Natalie, who was laughing and glowing with happiness and joy of life. How he envied her, but not in an ugly way. It made him happy to see her happy and he wished he could just let loose enough to enjoy some of the smaller things that made her light up with glee, things like the birth of baby birds, or baby puppies. A beautiful Spring day. The cherry blossoms that she had just gone on and on and on about. Monk had spent the past few years seeing things through her eyes and while he often complained and yes, whined, he loved everything about her. As he looked at the other two happy couples around him, he even began having thoughts of that kind of life with her. As Randy spoke of a case where someone was stealing people's newspapers, Monk slipped happily into a daydream of Natalie walking down an aisle in white lace carrying a bouquet of flowers, as he stood at the end of the aisle in a tuxedo, Leland Stottlemeyer at his side. The more he thought the broader his smile grew.
"And they found him there, with this hoard of newspapers all of the way to the ceiling, smothered under the weight of a stack that had fallen on him." Randy said as everyone but Monk looked disturbed and sad.
Leland was the first one who caught Monk's smile. "You're happy about that?" he said to Adrian who was still smiling.
"Adrian!" Natalie interrupted. "Did you hear a word of what was just said?"
Adrian snapped out of it. Looked at Randy. Looked at Leland. And then, looked at Natalie and giggled.
"Uh, yeah. That was great!" he lied, not having heard a word.
"You're weird!" said Sharona as she rolled her eyes.
"Where were you?" Natalie whispered as Adrian smiled.
"Oh, someday…. you'll find out." He said as he gave her a kiss on the tip of her nose.
Adrian was touched that his friends had travelled so far to see him, though for their part they wouldn't have missed it for the world. They agreed to meet for breakfast in the morning and would walk over to the White House together for the recognition ceremony at noon.
The couples spent about 3 hours chatting and reminiscing and finally broke up to return to their rooms. Adrian and Natalie had some case notes to review and he had hoped to get to speak with the First Lady firsthand to see if there was anything whatsoever that she might have seen that could help.
When they reached their suite, Adrian used his keycard to get in but found the door was already ajar. He looked at Natalie and told her to stand behind him. Opening the door, they walked into the common area where every cushion of the sofa and each drawer was open. In the bathrooms, personal items were thrown all over the counter and drawers laid on the floor. In the bedrooms, once again, personal items were ransacked and thrown everywhere.
Monk's personal notepad was wide open, but his notes had been ripped out of it. With his memory, he could certainly recreate it, but who was after it? Was this connected to the murder? Soon, he got his answer as he looked at his pillow and found a note.
Adrian Monk. This was a warning. If you do not want Natalie to join Trudy, you will drop this case.
He dropped the note on the bed as a wave of emotions from fear to seething anger washed over him. It was becoming personal.