“Isn’t that how you usually solve cases, by noticing the seemingly insignificant details the killer missed?” I said.
“That’s different,” Monk said.
“No, it isn’t. This uniform mismatch proves that the killer wasn’t a real Beyond Earth fan. Ambrose also noticed that the uniform was new, which helps prove that the killer bought it the day of the shooting.”
Monk glared at me. “Thanks for pouring extra antiseptic in my wound.”
“The correct phrase is ‘rubbing salt in the wound,’ ” Disher said.
“Nobody would ever rub a wound with salt,” Monk said. “It doesn’t clean or disinfect.”
“But it would be extremely painful,” Disher said.
“So would hacking off your arm with an ax,” Monk said. “But I don’t see what that has to do with Natalie trying to embarrass me in front of my employer.”
“That’s not what I was doing,” I said. “I was standing up for your brother.”
“Is he here?” Monk asked me pointedly.
“Of course not,” I said. “He never leaves the house. That’s why I had to stand up for him.”
“I see,” Monk said. “So are you working for him now or for me?”
I had never seen that look in Monk’s eyes before, at least not directed at me. It was pure anger. I realized that I’d crossed a line with him.
“For you,” I said. “I hope.”
My pulse quickened. I might have just smart-assed my way right out of the best job I’d ever had.
But Monk didn’t say anything to relieve my anxiety. He just turned and walked out of the captain’s office.
“What did I just do?” I asked Stottlemeyer and Disher.
“Relax,” Stottlemeyer said. “You weren’t any harder on him than Sharona was.”
“She was a real hard case,” Disher said. “She didn’t let Monk get away with anything.”
“And now she’s gone,” I said.
“Monk didn’t fire her,” Stottlemeyer said. “She escaped.”
“That doesn’t mean he won’t fire me.”
“Monk has his insecurities—thousands of them, in fact—but he also has an enormous ego,” Stottlemeyer said. “It’s healthy for him to be reminded that he can’t ignore other people’s feelings and that he isn’t the center of everybody’s world.”
“I’m sure there are a lot of bosses that need to hear that.” I turned to Disher. “When was the last time you told the captain he was insensitive and wasn’t giving somebody else enough credit for their work?”
Disher shifted his weight uncomfortably. “I don’t need to because he’s never done that.”
“Kiss-ass,” I said.
“Monk needs you, Natalie, and not just to drive him around and hand him disinfectant wipes,” Stottlemeyer said. “He knows that.”
“I hope you’re right,” I said and went out to look for my boss.
I caught up with Monk outside, where he was walking down the street, tapping each parking meter that he passed.
“Where are you going, Mr. Monk?”
“I’m wandering aimlessly to Burgerville headquarters. ”
I didn’t bother to point out that if he knew exactly where he was going he wasn’t wandering or aimless. A half hour ago I would have.
“What’s there?”
“Andrew Cahill, the company’s acting CEO,” Monk said. “I want to talk with him.”
“I could drive you,” I said. “We’d get there a lot faster.”
“So you can embarrass me in front of a possible suspect in the murder scheme?” Monk said. “I don’t think so.”
“I didn’t mean to embarrass you, Mr. Monk,” I said. “And if I did, I’m sorry.”
“You’re supposed to watch my back,” Monk said. “Not stab it. You know how vulnerable I am now that I’ve been uprooted from my home and thrust into the unknown.”
“You’re staying with your brother,” I said. “How is that the unknown?”
I’d spoken without thinking and immediately regretted my confrontational tone.
Monk stopped. “There you go again, questioning everything I do, contradicting everything I say.”
“I do not,” I said.
He gave me a look and started walking again. I caught up with him.
“Okay, right then, yes, I contradicted you, but I don’t do it all the time. I only said what I said in the captain’s office to help you.”
“How could pointing out my failings in front of the people who pay me to be perfect possibly help me?”
“First off, they don’t expect you to be perfect. You put that pressure entirely on yourself,” I said. “I was trying to bring you closer to your brother.”
“I didn’t hire you for that,” he said.
“You hired me to be your assistant and to make life as easy for you as possible. At least I think that’s what I’m supposed to do, though you’ve never come out and said it. That’s left me pretty much on my own to figure out how best to do that for you.”
“I’ve given you lists,” he said.
“Of your phobias,” I said. “Knowing that you’re afraid of throw pillows, diving boards, and dust bunnies doesn’t give me a whole lot to go on. I believe that one way of making your life easier is by improving your relationship with your brother.”
“We get along great,” he said.
“You never see each other.”
“That’s why,” he said.
“He needs you, Mr. Monk, and I believe you need him.”
“So now you’re a family therapist,” he said.
“I know you’re both lonely and that you don’t have to be,” I said. “It hurts me to see that.”
He stopped again. “It does?”
“Of course it does, Mr. Monk.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t like to see the people I care about unhappy,” I said.
“You care about me?”
“You’re much more than just a boss to me,” I said. “Assuming I still work for you.”
“Of course you do,” Monk said.
I sighed with relief. “Thank you, Mr. Monk.”
“But I’m glad to know I’m much more than a boss to you,” he said.
“Because I’m more than
