A full moon was rising above the clouds hovering over the eastern horizon when the two of them pulled up to an abandoned refrigerator warehouse on the waterfront that was now surrounded by squad cars. "Interesting choice by the killer," Adrian remarked as he sized it up, "This whole area's been run down and abandoned for about a year. Schmidt wouldn't have as much luck going for help here. Not to mention that this whole place is probably a haven for…ahhhhhh! Shoo! Fly off! Please…!"

A gull had landed unexpectedly on the detective's head. He waved his arms frantically at it. "I am not a toilet!" he pleaded it, "Natalie, a little help please!"

But his assistant was too busy laughing to be of much help. Fortunately the gull flew off as quickly as it had arrived. Adrian wiped frantically at his hair. "Nothing," he breathed a large sigh of relief, "If it had…."

"Monk, good, you're here," Disher had come running up. He lowered his voice and said, "Before we go in, I should tell you, I called the film shoot; three separate people confirm Karen was on the set at the time Schmidt's came to your apartment."

"Unfortunately that doesn't prove anything," Adrian shook his head, "I've seen more complicated murders than this be…"

"Oh good, Monk, you made it," the captain's voice wafted up from behind them. Everyone jumped slightly, causing Stottlemeyer to look at them strangely when they all turned around. "What?" he asked.

"Oh, uh, didn't know you were there, Captain," Adrian told him quickly, "What have we got here?"

"That's why we brought you here, Monk; I've got nothing so far," Stottlemeyer waved them all toward the warehouse. "We got bloodstains in the main storage area," he told them, "Preliminary tests match Schmidt's blood type. Our question is, what was he doing in this godforsaken place?"

"Especially a place this cold," Natalie shivered visibly and wrapped her arms around her chest, "It's freezing in here. Did they usually keep this place this cold?"

"Well it has been pretty cold at night lately," the captain theorized, "And this place hasn't been in use for six months, so they can't exactly warm it up."

"Actually, she's got a bit of a point," Adrian raised his hand, "This building's been deliberately made cold. Look," he strode over to the corner of the nearest intersecting hallway and pointed at the thermostat, "It's set to less than fifty degrees in here."

Stottlemeyer and Disher stared at the thermostat. "Interesting," the captain remarked, "But what does it mean?"

"Water!"

"What does water have to do with a cold warehouse, Monk?"

"No, there's water all over the floor here," Adrian was now hopping up and down, having made the mistake of stepping in an unusually long puddle of water stretching from where they were to the main chamber of the warehouse. The detective removed his shoe and shoved it toward Natalie. "Backup," he asked her.

"A backup shoe?" she gave him a strained look, "Mr. Monk, I can't carry backups for every single thing you have. I just don't have the room!"

"Seriously, woman, don't you ever prepare for anything!" Adrian shouted, to everyone's great surprise, "I insist that people who work for me be ready for…!"

"OK, moving back to the real world," Stottlemeyer tapped the detective hard on the shoulder to bring him back to earth, "We think Schmidt was killed in here, so if you'll just follow me."

Adrian hopped up the hallway after him on one foot, to the amazement of all the other law enforcement officials now around them. Once inside the main storage bay, he started making familiar obtuse gestures as he examined the area. Everyone around fell silent as the detective went through his routines. Adrian hopped to a halt behind a stack of crates. "The killer was standing right here," he finally announced, "Schmidt came in through the door we did."

He started restacking the crates in a perfectly straight order. "Monk, please don't do that!" Stottlemeyer scolded him, "We're going to need the fingerprints!"

"You won't find any," the detective pointed out, "The killer wore gloves. You can see paint flecks right here on the crates."

He pointed them out for the captain's benefit. "And there was a third person in here as well," he announced, "They were right over there behind the door. A man with size twelve boots."

"Huh?" the captain rushed over to the spot Adrian had pointed out. "Amazing," he commented, noticing the clear footprints in the sawdust, "How did we miss this?"

"And what have we here?" Adrian in the meantime hopped backwards—his arms outstretched to the sides to maintain some semblance of balance—toward one of the old broken refrigerators in the room. He bent down—without actually having his foot touch the floor--and examined a shattered vacuum tube hose. He reached into his pocket for his tweezers and lifted something small and thin off the hose. "Dog hair," he announced as everyone ran over to him. He looked upward at Natalie. "Newfoundland hair."

"You're absolutely sure?" she squinted at it.

"Oh believe me, I know now," he grimaced with thoughts of his encounter earlier in the day with John Schmidt's dog.

"OK, so a Newfoundland is important here?" Stottlemeyer inquired.

"It could be, captain," Adrian told him, swaying and almost losing his balance from his continued hopping on one foot. He related to his boss what he'd learned from and about Schmidt. Stottlemeyer nodded slowly when the lecture was over with. "So this guy warrants our attention," he commented when it was over, "Interesting, Monk. Did you find anything else out, seeing how you've been out all day?"

"Um," Adrian shot a worried glance at Natalie, who in turn glanced at Disher. Stottlemeyer raised an eyebrow at this silent game of hot potato, but if he suspected anything he didn't say anything. "Well, um, we have a few more ideas," the detective said slowly. He went on about everything they'd found out that didn't involve Karen. "What I'm wondering," he quickly changed the subject at the end, "The angles of the wounds on Schmidt don't make sense still. The killer had a straight shot into his chest from this point here. How could he have missed his chest like that? And what was that other person doing in here too?"

"Well, we'll put out an APB on…" Stottlemeyer grunted out loud as Adrian accidentally kicked him with his flailing leg. "Miss Teeger, put his shoe on for him, that's an order!" the captain told her.

"When it's sopping wet? I don't think so!" Adrian leaned his shoulder up against a support column to steady himself.

"Well you can't just go hopping around all night, Mr. Monk," she informed him, reaching toward his foot with the shoe.

"Oh yes I can," he squirmed away, "You don't know me very well; I could do this for hours on…hey!"

Stottlemeyer seized hold of his shoulders and held him still while Natalie slipped the shoe back on Adrian's foot. The detective sighed as shook his foot around in what looked like an attempt to quickly dry it, but otherwise took it in stride. "It was worth a try," he shrugged.

"All right, bag all the evidence here and get it down to the lab," Stottlemeyer pointed at the broken vacuum hose in particular, "The more we know the quicker this will all take." He then abruptly sided up along Adrian as the detective started to walk away and asked him, "Before you go, Monk, I'd like a word with you in private."

"You would?" Adrian gulped loudly. He quickly cleared his throat and repeated with a more innocent tone, "You would?"

"This way, my friend," Stottlemeyer led him out the door and around the back of the warehouse. He stopped him on a fairly isolated spot along the docks. "Monk, I'd like you to do a favor for me in the next week or so," he told him once they were alone.

"Again?" Adrian sighed.

"Monk, you were at the preliminary hearing for the alimony payments," Stottlemeyer said with deep bitterness in his voice. Adrian had a sinking feeling where the conversation was going. "What she did to me today in that court was completely unfair," the captain confirmed his fears, "She and that sludge Tepperman completely inflated my income earnings so they could convince the judge to tax me to death—I think I might have said this earlier, but I've got to say it again. I'm not just going to sit back and let her walk all over me this time, Monk; I know it's time I make a stand."

"Do, do you really think that's really something you want to do, captain?" Adrian said the only thing he thought could dissuade his superior.

"Absolutely, Monk," Stottlemeyer nodded emphatically, "I've given it loads of thought, and right now it's the only real option I have. You know how much I really make; I need you to testify and set them all straight. I don't really want to do it, but this time she's crossed the line; if she wants to be this dirty, I have to show her I can play that game too. If anyone should be paying more, it's her; everything I hear her saying before each damn hearing about her big new picture deal to that slime."

"About the miners, yes," Adrian said before he could catch himself. His eyes widened as he realized he'd said too much. Stottlemeyer stared at him. "How'd you know about that?" he asked.

"Um, uh, I, uh, read about it in the paper, how they'd be filming here in town," Adrian told him quickly, "Ambrose had the, um, copy when I, uh, went to see him earlier."

He was relieved to see that Stottlemeyer apparently accepted this explanation. "Anyway, if you could testify for me, Monk, I'd greatly appreciate it," the captain told the detective.

"Why me, captain?" Adrian had to know, "I'd rather not be pulled into this, honestly."

"Trust me Monk, I'd rather not drag you into it either, but I need someone who's honest in my corner, and you are that man," Stottlemeyer told him, "Now do we have a deal?"

He gave Adrian a look that made the detective's willpower wilt. "Yeah, sure, I guess," he said weakly, wondering how he'd ever gotten into such a tight spot in the first place.

"Thanks Monk, I knew I could trust you," the captain patted him on the back, "You a good man. I'll let you know the fine details once I work it out. The two of them won't know what hit them once you get through—of course, the whole court can probably say that when you get through, but that's not important now."

And with that he walked off before Adrian could say anything else. The detective stared glumly out toward the bay, wondering how he was going to get through the case in one emotional piece.