"That creep!" exclaimed Natalie with disgust.
"Yes, I think Lord Chestivaldi was what one would call, 'A creep." Clarisse said.
"Major creep…"Monk said.
"Okay so Mignonette loses her Dad and Chestivaldi sets her up to go to the Caribbean." Stottlemeyer said restating the facts.
"And pirates were in the Caribbean." Randy said nodding his head.
"Yeah…that's good Randy." Stottlemeyer said rolling his eyes amazed at his subordinate's constant stating of the obvious.
"Apparently, Mignonette added some details after she wrote the diary the first time. Look, you can even see where she used different ink." Joe said pointing to the page.
"So what happens next Grandma?" Mia asked eager to learn more.
"Unfortunately Mia dear, we have business back in Pyrus. You need to meet with Parliament to keep them informed." Clarisse told her closing the book.
"But what about the secret?" Mia asked.
"Your Majesty, we will comb through the diary page by page and report to you anything pertaining to the mystery." Monk told her. Mia sighed and stood, tugging on her crème skirt suit jacket,
"Okay…oh! Maybe I can get the Royal librarians to gather together any information about Queen Mignonette, or that Turner couple you found or about Chestivaldi."
"An excellent idea Mia. Now come along…let us pray the press will not hound us all the way to the limo." Clarisse said standing and handing the dairy to Natalie. Mia told Adrian,
"Mr. Monk, I don't want to be left out of the loop. If you need me to ask anyone anything, you let me know."
"Of course Your Majesty. We'll return to Pyrus later tonight." Monk nodded as the Royals left the room. Mia released a big breath before they exited out the back way, avoiding the flashing cameras of paparazzi all around them. Her mind was reeling with questions. Who was Mignonette anyway? What was her secret?
"Well Monk, you were right. These Turner people both were proud to be pirates." Stottlemeyer said brushing off his slacks from where he knelt in the grass. They had went outside to the cemetery to look around further for any more clues before deciding to return to Pyrus.
"Let's check out Mignonette's grave. Maybe we'll learn something more." Adrian said. Looking once more at his tour book, Randy said holding up a finger,
"Oh! Let me…the mausoleum is…this way! It was built in 1742 when the Queen fell ill after a riding accident…wow over eighty and still riding…anyway it's made of marble and rose granite and the crypt…"
"Oh for the love of…Randy! This is a homicide investigation not a guided tour!" the Captain yelled at him. As the two policemen argued up front, Monk asked Natalie as she read the diary to herself,
"Anything interesting?"
"Not yet…mostly dictates the next three weeks, her coronation, and her first few weeks aboard the ship on the crossing. Mr. Monk? What do you think the secret is?" Natalie asked.
"I don't know…maybe Mignonette made an alliance with a band of pirates. Gave them letters of Marque…but she kept it quiet just in case all the major superpowers considered it an act of war." Monk theorized.
"What are Letters of Marque?" asked Natalie.
"Well basically it was a government giving a pirate permission to be a pirate…or the more legal term privateer. A government gives them a full pardon if the pirate attacks enemy ships and gives a percentage to the government." Monk explained.
"Yeah, that makes sense. An itsy bitty country like Genovia could be easily taken over couldn't they? I could see why Mignonette would keep that a secret." Natalie said nodding her head.
"I don't know…the way she talked about this…Captain Sparrow…it was almost as if she…" Monk started searching for the right word. As they approached the mausoleum, Natalie asked,
"What?"
"As if she knew him." Monk told her.
"Mr. Monk, we are assuming that was Capt. Sparrow's bedroom next to Mignonette's right?" asked Natalie.
"Right." Monk nodded. Natalie patted his shoulder,
"Then I think it's safe to say she probably knew him…really well!"
"Oh…" Monk said with realization as they came up on the small stone building. The Captain stepped back outside from the cool shadows and said,
"Come on Monk, you've got to see this." Adrian took one look in the darkened grave and shook his head taking a step back.
"No…"
"Oh Mr. Monk come on!" Natalie urged him.
"What are my top ten fears, huh?" Monk asked them rhetorically.
"You mean this week?" the Captain asked sarcastically.
"Darkness, spiders, cobwebs, dust, rats, decomposing corpses…" Monk said ticking off each fear on his fingers.
"Monk! Think of the reward you'll get solving this case." Stottlemeyer interrupted.
"I don't care about the money…" Monk started.
"Well you should…Monk think about it…with the money you'll get from this case you'll have unlimited resources to properly investigate Trudy's murder." Stottlemeyer told him.
"I will?" asked Monk quietly. Stottlemeyer sighed and stood before his friend,
"Also Natalie can take care of her daughter and herself better meaning she'll have more time to help you solve Trudy's murder. Monk, you have to do this…for Trudy." Monk nodded, looking down on the ground before looking back up and saying,
"For Trudy…" Stottlemeyer clapped his back,
"Atta boy…come on. Monk whispered in a timid panic and Stottlemeyer walked by his side into the mausoleum. The stone room was quiet, with only an occasional drip from moisture. More stained glass windows allowed the sunlight to shine down on a stone crypt. The lid of the crypt was shaped like a human form, a woman in skirts with a crown on her head. Randy read aloud from a book,
"In keeping with Genovian tradition, the grave of Mignonette is like that of an Egyptian sarcophagus, an effigy shaped like the form of the remains inside. Numerous symbols and cravings are also included in the statue as a testament to the life that was lived. Mignonette's markings include one of her favorite sayings, 'Till the end of time, and the Renaldi line', pears to symbolize her contribution to the pear industry, a book symbolizing her development of higher education, and a pelican for her generosity and her devotion to her country."
"What about this heart shape on her chest?" Natalie asked tapping on the craving.
"I don't know, it doesn't say." Randy said flipping through the book.
"Randy, for the love of God, forget the book and…" Stottlemeyer said taking the book and throwing it on top of the crypt. But he stopped when the book shifted the heart over a little revealing a small opening. The four companions all looked to each other and Randy asked,
"Is it supposed to do that?"
"Well…sometimes people feared being buried alive so they had small openings in their crypts so they could breathe and call for help." Monk said bending over to look at the shifted heart. The sun danced a beam of light across the hole for a second and Stottlemeyer came up to the grave saying,
"Wait…that is no hole…" He set aside the tour book and shifted the heart further back. He reached his hand in and pulled out a small octagon box made of high quality heavy wood. Seeing it opened on a hinge, The Captain opened it and said,
"It's a compass…broken though…doesn't point north."
"It must have broken over the years." Monk said looking over the Captain's shoulder to look at the compass.
"Think it has something to do with the case?" Natalie asked.
"I think so…why would someone hide a compass in Mignonette's gravestone? If it were a cherished memento, why not just put it in with the body? No…this is another clue trying to tell us Mignonette's secret." Monk said.
The drive back to Pyrus was fairly quiet for Monk and his friends. Natalie was reading the diary once more and everyone else was lost in thought over all they learned today and the murder. Monk was trying to piece all the obvious clues together. Somebody went to a lot of trouble to hide them…but they still left them behind to be found. Who could have done so and why?
"Hey guys listen to this…this is about a month after Mignonette left Genovia…'Wednesday, April 26th in the year of our Lord 1678, I wrote a letter to Genevieve today. The Captain told me he would send a carrier pigeon once this thick fog cleared up…"