Monk Season 3 Episode 7
Dr. Kroger arrives at his office to find Monk and fellow patient Harold in the hallway fighting over who has the first appointment. Kroger notices the office door is opened. The three men enter the office and find Theresa, the cleaning lady, has been murdered.
The police arrive on the scene and suspect a disgruntled patient might be responsible. Kroger tells them one patient demanded to see his file and threatened the doctor when he refused to show him. The police assume this patient must have killed Theresa when she caught him trying to steal his file. Dr. Kroger is so upset over not predicting the patient's outburst he decides it is time for him to retire, leaving Monk and Harold devastated.
The disgruntled patient has an alibi so Monk and Natalie return to the scene of the crime. Monk is trying to get Natalie to be his shrink when he notices the vacuum lines in the carpet. Monk deduces Natalie did not walk in on the killer because the killer did not enter the office to steal a file but to specifically kill Theresa, and on cue, Francis Merridan enters the office. He rents space on the same floor for his import/export company and suspects one of Kroger's crazy patients must have committed the crime. Oh, please. This guy totally did it, but why?
Monk stops by Dr. Kroger's house and decides to loiter around when the doctor refuses him entry. Monk discovers Harold is also loitering around the doctor's house. They both hear a distant crash when a rock is thrown through one of the home's windows. Monk examines the rock when the police arrive. He recognizes the rock but can't remember from where. The rock has a note around it threatening Dr. Kroger for ruining his life. Before leaving, Kroger tells Monk he has set him up with an appointment with Dr. Sorensen.
Monk attends the session and is dismayed by the one-armed doctor because one arm is not symmetrical and Monk is OCD, remember? Monk is distracted the whole session and finally admits his lack of comfort is due to everything, including a new setting. He begins detailing all the things present and familiar in Dr. Kroger's office when he suddenly remembers where he saw the rock.
Monk finds Dr. Kroger packing things up in his office, and shows him the exact placement of the rock near the aquarium. Kroger says the only other person with access is Francis Merridan. They look around Meriden's office. Monk notices powdered milk, but there isn't a coffee maker, which means Merridan is using his import/export company to transfer heroin, which is typically cut with powdered milk. Merridan walks in on them and that discovery lands them in the back of Meriden's truck, tied up.
While in the truck, Monk points out a cracked figurine. Monk tells Kroger that Theresa must have accidentally knocked over the figurine while cleaning Meriden's office, and just vacuumed up its contents. Merridan eventually returned to his office and figured out what had happened. He found Theresa while she was cleaning Kroger's office and killed her, and then emptied the vacuum bag of the heroin. Merridan made a mess in the office and threw the rock through the window in order to make it look like a crazy patient was responsible. Monk also confesses to Kroger they probably won't make it out of this situation. At least they wouldn't if Harold wasn't still following the doctor. Harold calls the police and tells them where Merridan drove Monk and Kroger.
The police arrive and there is a shoot out between them and Merridan. Harold gets caught up and ends up taking a bullet meant for Dr. Kroger. Merridan is arrested and Kroger continues to keep his practice open.
This episode was fun because I guessed who the killer was as soon as he came on screen, and I learned heroin is cut with powdered milk. This show hones critical thinking skills like PBS.