Mr. Monk Buys a House - Recap

Home nurse Cassie Drake is at the home of her patient Joseph Moody. Cassie is talking to Moody's niece on the phone. The niece is coming over in 40 minutes to visit. Cassie tries to talk the niece out of coming without success. After she hangs up, she asks Moody what happened to him in 1968 at the Hampton Street Depository. Joseph is suffering from delirium and talks about his hat. Cassie finally gives up on him, pulls his wheelchair up the stairs, and then stands him up and shoves him down the stairs where he dies with a broken neck.

A girl is playing the piano and practicing Chopin when the police come to talk to her mother, saying a neighbor has filed a noise complaint. They leave as Monk watches them from next door. Monk is complaining that he can't sleep and the piano practicing is keeping up all hours of the night. Monk says that he called Dr. Kroger and says that Kroger died of a heart attack. Natalie suggests they find a new therapist for Monk but they've already tried and he isn't happy with any of them. Monk goes to the police station, trying to find cases to solve to take his mind off the music. Stottlemeyer is busy having Disher drill him on his maritime exam for the boat that he bought. Disher tests Stottlemeyer on Morse code, and he and Stottlemeyer both know it. Monk notices the file on Moody, which the police have ruled an accident. Monk insists there's something wrong and Stottlemeyer humors him by going to investigate the case. At the house, which is for sale, they talk to Moody's niece who says that Cassie claimed that Moody was taking a drug that made him woozy, and he fell down the stairs when he was walking. Miss Moody breaks down crying but Monk is more interested in the house, noting the soundproof walls and the fact that Mr. Moody keeps it spotless. Stottlemyer tries to warn him that he shouldn't buy a house when he's upset, but Monk makes an offer to buy.

Natalie takes Monk to see a Dr. Neven Bell, an acclaimed therapist. Dr. Bell knew Dr. Kroeger and is familiar with Monk, having wipes and his favorite bottled water on hand. Monk talks about his sleeplessness and Bell figures that the girl next door is playing Chopin, and Kroger liked Chopin, so Monk associates the music with his dead friend and therapist. Monk isn't happy with the theory and says it isn't going to work. However, he can't leave because his time isn't up and he's afraid Natalie will kill him if he leaves early.

Monk goes to a hardware store to get a shower head and ends up talking with "Honest Jake" Phillips, a worker who offers help with Monk's house and sympathizes with his problems. Monk goes to his new home and gives the increasingly irritated workers directions on how to move his fragile and extra-fragile items. He shows Natalie around the house and appears happy, even though he's no longer at the apartment he shared with Trudy. Natalie wonders if Monk is ready to handle all the responsibilities of a homeowner btu he says he's fine. However, then he notices that the light fixture isn't centered in the ceiling of the dining room. Natalie makes a hasty exist as Monk starts rearranging everything to be centered.

Monk ends up calling in Jake to help. Jake agrees that the light fixture isn't centered and goes to work, then says that the wiring isn't up to code. He starts looking around and finds that the pipes are corroded. He calls in a friend, "Honest Ramone," and they start tearing down the walls to get at the pipes and wiring. As he waits with Natalie, Monk notices tread marks on the stairway and a rip in the wallpaper. He gets Moody's wheelchair and finds a piece of wallpaper on it, and matches the tire width to the marks on the stairway. Natalie finds an unopened bottle of the pills that Cassie claimed Moody took. Monk concludes that Cassie murdered Joseph and then lied about him walking up the stairs.

That night, Cassie returns home to find someone waiting for her: Honest Jake. He tells her that Monk knows that she murdered Joseph. She tries to apologize but he ruthlessly stabs and kills her using an awl.

Monk tells Stottlemeyer what he's figured out and they go to Cassie's home and find her dead. Jake tried to make it look like she interrupted a robbery but Monk notes that nothing was taken or even searched through. Disher finds $4,000 in the closet, all in 1960s currency, and Stottlemeyer decides to trace the money. Monk goes home and starts cleaning up the dust, but Jake tells him that he's found some mold and he's going to have to tear up the floors to get to it. As Jake goes to work, Natalie and Monk find a box that belonged to Moody with old newspaper clippings.

Stottlemeyer traces the $4,000 to a depository robbery that occurred in 1968. Two of the robbers were caught and went to prison, but never gave up the name of the third member of their gang.

Monk sees a loose clipping in Moody's scrapbook and peels it away to find that it has a news story on the robbery on the other side. The other clippings also have stories about the robbery on the back. Monk sees Jake's awl and spots blood on it, and Jake holds them at gunpoint. He chains them to the bathtub and continues tearing the house apart with Ramone. Monk explains that Joseph masterminded the robbery and hid the money in his house, but then started turning senile and babbled about the money. Cassie learned about it but had to kill him before he said anything to anyone else.

Monk and Natalie try to crawl away, pulling the bathtub with them, but Jake notices them. Monk notices a hole in the wall and Jake checks it out, realizing it's a false wall: the reason the light fixture was off center. He and Ramone tear apart the wall and find the money, and Jake shoots and kills Ramone. Natalie and Monk kick the false wall down on Jake, knocking him unconscious,. They try to get out but can't pull the bathtub far enough. Natalie goes to the fireplace, starts a fire, and starts sending out smoke signals. Stottlemeyer and Disher see them from the depository down the street, where they've learned that Moody worked at the depository in 1968. They see Natalie's SOS and go to help. Jake wakes up and prepares to shoot the two of them, but Stottlemeyer bursts in and takes him prisoner just in time.

Later, Monk decides to make an appointment with Dr. Bell. He talks about his father and how he used to make him paranoid. Things go well and Monk wants to make another appointment with Bell: the same day a couple of hours later. Bell starts nervously going through his schedule book.

Back home in his apartment, Monk is reading when he hears the girl playing Chopin on the piano. Now that he's reconciled his feelings about Kroger, he goes to the window and opens it so he can listen.

Share this article with your friends