Steve Wagner's standard of living and lifestyle options had decreased significantly since the last time Adrian Monk had encountered him. His wife had left him and remarried. His house had sold, but the proceeds either went to his wife or to legal fees. His endorsements dried up as did his political aspirations. He lived in a suburban area outside of Oakland in a modest house with his brother and sister in law and their 3 children. In short, he was a picture perfect illustration that crime doesn't pay. He had murdered a girl, and it had cost him everything – except perhaps, his attitude.
Pulling up to the house, Leland parked the car alongside the curve and he and Monk began walking towards the house listed as Wagner's latest address. Hearing noise at the side of the house Stottlemeyer motioned to Monk to follow him.
"Steve Wagner?" Captain Stottlemeyer said as he walked up to Wagner who was doing some landscaping work with his brother. At Leland's request, Monk stayed back a bit during the interrogation.
Steve was dressed in a tank top and blue jeans, his astronaut physique all but obliterated by nearly seven years in jail. Seven years. Seven years for the pre-meditated murder of a young woman was all that he got until his connections and celebrity got him the governor's pardon. He had been somewhat of a model prisoner, and at the low security prison that they sent him to, he pretty much stayed quiet. But those connections would not erase his past and a pardon only took him out of the penal system. It did not restore what he had.
"Yeah, that's me." Said Steve, wiping some sweat off of his sweaty brow.
"Captain Stottlemeyer of the San Francisco P.D., I'd like to ask you a few questions about your whereabouts yesterday afternoon, around say 4:30."
Wagner reached over and picked up a cloth that had been draped over the handle of a wheelbarrow and used it to wipe the dirt off of his hands.
"Listen Captain, I've paid my debt to society. I will not sit still and be harassed every time you guys find some crime has been committed." Steve said cockily.
"Sir, I haven't accused you of anything. It's all just part of the investigation." Leland replied.
Steve's brother walked up to him and whispered something in his ear before retreating back to the house. Wagner watched then turned and shrugged. "Fine. Fine. I was over at the governor's office finishing up the final paperwork associated with my release, then I spent about 30 minutes being interviewed by the local news. Program will air on channel 2 sometime next week." Wagner replied.
"Are there witnesses to say you were there?" Stottlemeyer asked.
"Plenty. Hey, what's this about?" Wagner asked.
"You know what it's about." Adrian responded, stepping to the forefront. "What did you do with her?"
Wagner laughed, "Monk? Adrian Monk. You haven't changed a bit. Still the annoying little twerp you always were."
"Where is Natalie? If you so much as harm one hair on her head…" Adrian was seething.
"Monk, that's enough." Stottlemeyer scolded, turning to Monk and wordlessly telling him to back off. Adrian tugged at his jacket and then flattened it out with his hand, then turned to the side and walked a few feet away letting Leland handle it.
"We will be checking out your alibi at the governor's office and also at channel 2. Stay close by in case we have other questions." Stottlemeyer said to Wagner who replied with a scowl.
"And exactly where would I go?" Wagner scoffed as Leland turned towards Adrian who was already moving back towards the car.
Back in the vehicle, Stottlemeyer spoke to Adrian as the friend he had always been.
"Listen Adrian." Leland said using Monk's proper name. "I know you are scared and I know you are angry. This girl means a lot to you. She means a lot to all of us. But…"
"I was supposed to take care of her," Adrian replied. "She's so vulnerable right now. I am supposed to be her protector."
"You are her protector." Stottlemeyer interjected.
"Fine protector." Adrian scoffed.
"Listen Adrian, in all of the time I've known you I have known one thing. When you love someone, it is forever, be they a friend or spouse or something else. You are a bit of a hard nut to crack, but once someone is in, they are in."
Adrian looked up at the Captain as Leland continued.
"Now there is no way you would have deliberately let this happen. You'd take a bullet for this woman. You'd die for her. We all see that. And if they hadn't gotten her at the grocery store they would have gotten her someplace else. We just have to figure out who 'they' is."
"I'm telling you, Captain, Wagner's the guy." Replied Adrian.
"But it appears he has an alibi." Stottlemeyer responded.
"Yeah, he did last time too. He's good for making iron clad alibis. But this one is simple. If he was everywhere he said he was, then fine. He had an accomplice." Adrian retorted.
"Why would anyone help Wagner? It's not like he has any connections any more." Stottlemeyer asked.
"Well, apparently he has connections that get him to the governor's mansion." Adrian countered.
Leland thought that statement over then said, "Monk. You are almost never wrong about these things. If you say he's the guy, then he's the guy. But you have to do one thing."
"What's that?" Adrian asked.
"You have to ramp down your emotions a bit. I think you're letting your relationship with Natalie cloud your thinking right now. If you do that, you'll make stupid mistakes and we need your analysis at full potency. We're not ready to present a case against Wagner at this point. Do you think you can remain calm enough to continue?" he asked.
"Of course. I'm a professional." Adrian responded.
"You're also a man. And a friend. And the woman you love is in harm's way." He continued. "It's natural you would want to act. But you have to resist that urge. You have to hold back until we can firm this case up and find out where she is. You got it?"
"I've got it." Adrian responded as he pondered Leland's comments. The woman he loved. The woman he loved. There had only been one woman in his life whom he had loved with that kind of love, he thought. Natalie had always been a friend. A very close friend. But he hadn't allowed himself to think of her as more, or at least he hadn't admitted that he thought of her as more. But what Leland observed was right. Natalie was more. But what exactly was she? Readily, he could admit that he loved her. Of course he did. He loved her as his best friend. But, the situation had suddenly made him realize there was something more than that, and while Leland didn't out and say it, the inference was true. Deny it all he wanted, Monk knew that this situation was hurting him so much because he also loved Natalie as a man loves a woman. In fact, as he pondered it, he knew he loved her in a way similar to the way he loved Trudy. He would take a bullet for her. He would do anything to see her safe and happy. And right now, that meant suppressing his urge to go full force after Wagner. Time for that would come later. For now, finding Natalie was all that mattered.