116EPILOGUE
Leland Stottlemeyer rushed down the stairs and through the emaculate home that he enjoyed with his wife Trudy. He grabbed his jacket, and walked over to the kitchen table where she had poured him a cup of coffee to go and where she was sitting with a smile on her face reading the paper.
"Late for work again!" she stated, folding up the paper and leaning forward to give him a peck on the lips.
"Yeah. Someone kept me up too late last night." He replied, grabbing the coffee cup and giving her a wink before he exited the house.
The role of San Francisco Police Commissioner had long been one that he had coveted and it was truly an honor when he was named to the post. Many thought he would retire when he left. But now, a year and half since the day he quit his position to go save his best friend Adrian Monk, he was having the time of his life doing something that he never imagined himself doing.
As he entered the front office, the sign bearing the business's name went crooked on the wall as it was prone to do. Leland had grown to ignore it, knowing it would get straightened up soon enough any way.
Heather Monk sat at a desk with her son John Michael beside her, jumping up and down in a bouncing chair as he examined a solar system mobile that hung from a rod in front of it. Babies were not an unusual thing at the office since Adrian's two toddlers and the Disher's daughter Ophelia were frequent guests.
"Hey, Leland! Glad you're here."Heather said. " We got a call this morning from the chief of Police over at Lynn. Sounds like some big shot news anchor was murdered there yesterday afternoon and they wanted you guys to go over and take a look." She said, handing him a slip of paper.
"Has Monk seen this?" he asked.
"Yes. He, Natalie and Randy are in Adrian's office, doing a little pre-work and wanted me to send you in there as soon as you got in." she said.
"Great. Thanks for the message." He replied.
As he entered Adrian's office, he saw his three friends, now business partners, gathered around a glass story board. Adrian was connecting string between pictures and looked up, saw Leland enter and then smiled. He had completely healed up from the horrific attack from a year and a half prior and was as healthy and happy as Leland had ever seen him.
"Looks like we've got another high-profile case here, my friend." He said, informing Stottlemeyer about the specifics they knew thus far concerning the case.
"Victim is Diana Lange." Natalie said.
"Really! Oh man, she's big in the business. Any suspects?" Leland asked.
"Several. But here's the thing. She was found out on the deck of a yacht as if she had been sunbathing." Adrian replied.
"What's weird about that?" Leland asked.
"The woman was deathly afraid of the water." Natalie replied.
"She was murdered." Added Randy.
"It would appear so." Leland responded, stroking his trademark moustache."So, where do we come in?" he asked.
Adrian touched Leland on the shoulder and led him out the door. "Follow me. We'll take my SUV and we can talk on the road. Natalie, sweetheart, can you drive?"
"Sure, honey." She said, grabbing her purse and keys and walking out the door with the group.
.
As Heather sat at her desk, she looked at her watch counting the seconds until the door would open again.
"Three…Two… and One…" she said, out loud to herself.
Immediately, the front door opened again and Adrian walked briskly into the office. Walking over to the wall, he straightened the brand sign which read
Enterprise Detective Agency
A venture of Detectives Stottlemeyer, Disher, Monk and Monk.
Established 2018.
.
"We've got to get this thing fixed. A year of disorder is enough, don't you think?" Adrian asked.
"Sure thing, boss." Heather said, looking down at John Michael as Adrian walked back out the door.
"We'll get right on that, won't we Johnny?"