Mr. Monk's Day At The Spa

Chapter 4

Mr. Monk spent the next ten minutes trying to calm down Molly. She had never seen a dead body before, and was freaking out at the sight of it. He managed to get her phone away from her and call Captain Stottlemeyer sometime during the commotion. One of the attendants had heard Molly scream and rushed in to help her. The attendant fainted at the sight of the body, so Mr. Monk told the Captain to bring an ambulance with him. He decided it was time to call Natalie, even though he had given her the day off. Mr. Monk dialed her number and she picked up on the second ring. "Hello" Natalie said, not knowing it was her boss.

Mr. Monk was trying to decide how to say this calmly. "Natalie," he said slowly, "I think you may want to work today." He finished.

Natalie sighed, she expected him to call before the day was over. "Mr. Monk what happened? You were so excited this morning." She said, frustrated with her boss.

He knew she would not be happy with what he had to tell her. She thought he was a death magnet. "Well, Natalie, you see, we sort of..." He hadn't finished his sentence when she interrupted him.

Natalie just sighed again and answered. "Mr. Monk I can't believe you found a body on my day off! Where are you? I need to know so I can meet you there." She said, very angry with her boss.

Mr. Monk looked around a moment before he answered. "I'm at the Happy Days Resort & Spa. Do you know where that is?" He asked her warily.

Natalie was about to respond when Stottlemeyer walked in and Monk hung up. "Where's the body Monk?" He asked.

Molly, finally calm enough to respond, pointed to the mud bath. The Captain walked over and squatted down next to the bath. The coroner's van wasn't expected for another fifteen minutes, so he couldn't do anything yet. "Have you solved it yet Monk?" He asked jokingly.

Mr. Monk looked at Stottlemeyer like he was crazy. "Captain, what do you expect me to do? I can't think with all this...this...wet dirt around me!" Monk practically yelled.

The Captain laughed at Monk's outburst. "I was just joking Monk. Why are you here anyway?" He asked suspiciously.

Mr. Monk just turned his head towards Molly and glared. She laughed sheepishly and responded. "That's my fault Captain Stottlemeyer. I though we could spend a nice, relaxing day at the spa." She explained to him.

Stottlemeyer stared at her as if she just said she had three heads. "Are you telling me that you got Monk, the Adrian Monk, the cleanest guy I know, to go into a mud bath?" He asked incredulously.

Molly laughed a little at Stottlemeyer's surprise. "I guess I did, sir." She said while smiling a very tiny smile.

The Captain just shook his head in amazement. "I'll give you a hundred bucks if you can get him to eat a piece of gum off the sidewalk." He dared her.

She laughed again, realizing that he was just trying to calm her down. "I don't think anyone can get him to do that." She said jokingly.

Mr. Monk was now remaining silent in the corner, happy that Molly was okay again. Then they heard a woman's voice yelling to let her through the police line. Everyone recognized the voice as Natalie's and yelled back to let her in. Mr. Monk knew he was in trouble when he saw her face. "Mr. Monk I can't believe the one day you give me off you actually do something fun. And then, to make it even worse, you find a body and I have to give up my day off. I was going to take Julie shopping, but no, I have to let her grandmother take her. Again." Natalie yelled.

Mr. Monk just stood still and remained silent as Natalie yelled at him. When she finished he had a question for her. "Did you bring wipes?" He asked quietly.

It was then that she noticed he was covered in mud and wearing nothing but a robe. He thought she was going to pull out a package of wipes for him to clean himself off with, but instead she pulled out her phone and started taking pictures of him. "Mr. Monk," she said while snapping more photographs, "I've never seen you like this."

He, unlike everyone else, did not see what was so funny about his attire. "Why are you taking pictures? What's so funny? Do you have wipes or not?" He asked, slightly annoyed.

While still laughing, Natalie reached into her purse and pulled out a package of wipes. "Here you go Mr. Monk" she said between bursts of laughter.

As Monk opened the wipes and began to clean himself off the coroner's van pulled up to the building. The medical examiner and his assistant made it across the police line without any problems. "What have we got here Captain?" He asked Stottlemeyer while crouching beside the body.

The Captain stood up and stretched quickly. "Monk found a body in a mud bath about thirty minutes ago." He informed the medical examiner.

The M.E. and his assistant began to carefully lift the body out of the bath. It took them a minute to get the body out of the mud without damaging anything. "Male, late thirties, Caucasian, and he's been in here about fourteen hours." The M.E. told the group.

Stottlemeyer circled the body, looking for identifying features. "Can you get any prints off of him?" He questioned.

The medical examiner looked at the Captain like he had lost his mind. "Can you see anything through all this mud? I can't tell you anything for sure until we clean him off back at the office." He said while shaking his head.

Stottlemeyer stood still and looked quickly at Monk. Seeing his discomfort the Captain thought it might be best if he and the cops left. "Okay men, let's head back. The forensics people can take care of the rest." He said while staring at Monk.

Mr. Monk mouthed a silent thank you to the Captain as everyone headed back. Lieutenant Randy Discher led Natalie, Monk, and Molly through the back door, so that they wouldn't be seen by the paparazzi out front.