Mr. Monk Goes to Hawaii

Natalie Teeger is overworked from working for Adrian Monk, and desperately seeks a vacation. So she is naturally delighted when her best friend Candace (no last name given) invites her on a comped trip to Kauai in Hawaii to be the maid of honor at her wedding to a guy named Brian Galloway. The only question is how to tell Monk about the upcoming trip. She decides to drop the bomb at the last second, when Monk is on his usual high after solving a murder case – a well-known heart surgeon who was poisoned by his own patient while she was on the operating table – and tells him she's leaving the next day. He is devastated, and she quickly pushes him off to his normal appointment with Dr. Kroger.

The next day, Natalie drives to the airport and boards her flight to Lihue, Hawaii via Honolulu. Unfortunately for Natalie, her peace of mind lasts all of one hour when she wakes up shortly after takeoff and is shocked to see Monk sitting across the aisle from her. Only now, he is "The Monk" – the infinitely-better-adjusted, but insufferably obnoxious persona brought on by Doxinyl, an OCD-control drug that Dr. Kroger assumed Monk had thrown out after the embarrassment he caused the SFPD the previous time that he tried it.[1] Natalie calls Dr. Kroger during their layover in Honolulu. Ultimately, she determines that she has no choice but to suck it up and accept Monk along, though she has a sneaking suspicion that Dr. Kroger put Monk on the drug and told him to get on the flight with Natalie so that he himself could avoid being bothered over the week.

Upon arrival in Lihue, Monk and Natalie meet Candace and her fiancé Brian Galloway. Candace naturally assumes at first that Monk is Natalie's steady boyfriend. Brian is full of adventure stories, many of which are repeated by his adoring betrothed. Nonetheless, Candace drives them to the Grand Kiahuna Poipu resort in Poipu. Natalie is a little unsettled to learn that the couple already have pet names for each other.

When they get to the hotel, Monk and Natalie check in. Natalie carefully arranges their room placement, anticipating the next morning, when the drugs will wear off. While they explore the grounds afterwards, they stumble upon renowned TV psychic Dylan Swift doing a live taping of his show Whispers from the Other Side. Monk is still drugged, but he believes that Swift is a hack after watching him seemingly deliver a message from an audience member's late sibling.

The next morning, the drugs wear off and Monk is horror-struck at how he's spent the last twenty-four hours. But Natalie is firm about him behaving himself while they are on vacation.

At the wedding ceremony, Monk, to everyone's shock and embarrassment, speaks up and exposes Brian for several lies he has told – the whopper of which is, that he's already married to a woman in New Jersey, and has been planning to travel back and forth between his two families. Furious and mortified, Candace slaps Brian and storms out of the wedding. Natalie is somewhat mad at Monk for humiliating her friend, but she is also grateful that he saved her from a bigamist marriage. With the wedding canceled, Monk is eager to go home, but Natalie says their booking is for a week, and she plans to enjoy it.

As Monk and Natalie are walking along the beach, they stumble upon an active police investigation at one of the resort's bungalows, which naturally piques Monk's interest. Peeking through the hedges, they see the dead body of an elderly woman floating in a hot tub. While they are spying, they are approached by a local Kauai police lieutenant, Ben Kealoha. After exchanging greetings with them, he tells them that the victim, a woman named Helen Gruber, was sitting in her hot tub underneath a palm tree when a coconut fell from the tree and struck her on the head, knocking her out, after which she drowned. But Monk immediately senses that something is wrong and declares it to be murder. Natalie is dismayed that Monk can't avoid death even away from home.

Monk and Natalie examine the crime scene for themselves. Monk quickly notices that Gruber was married, as she was wearing a ring. He also observes several clues that suggest murder: for one, the death coconut did not come from the palm tree shading the hot tub, but from the ground adjacent to a tree in the side yard. Additionally, he notices that Gruber was actually killed in the bungalow itself, not in the hot tub: for one, she is not wearing any suntan lotion. Also, there's a large print edition book on a chaise longue adjacent to the hot tub that indicates Gruber needed reading glasses, but there are none near the body. Lastly, a slight bruise below the victim's collarbone shows that she was killed in the kitchen as the bruise matches up with the counters.

While the crime scene is being secured, Kealoha takes Monk and Natalie out to a small roadside grill for lunch. Monk is disgusted by the presence of geckos all over the restaurant, and quickly deduces that Kealoha is suspecting him of being the killer. However, a call to Captain Stottlemeyer clears up any confusion they have left. Afterwards, the three go to question Lance Vaughan, Helen's husband who is thirty years her junior. He seems like the obvious suspect in his elderly wife's death, but he admits that he was on a snorkeling trip at the approximate time Helen was killed (pinpointed by the M.E. to be between 8:00 and 11:00 AM).

When Monk and Natalie do manage to get back to their rooms, Monk gets into a small argument with one of the hotel service employees about how his minibar is stocked. In the midst of his argument, he learns something interesting: Helen had been complaining to the front desk a few days before the murder about hearing voices out at the bungalow. Natalie changes into her swimwear and goes out for a short swim. Afterwards, while getting a drink at the beachside bar, she is approached by Dylan Swift. Natalie is angered when Swift decides to use his standard medium pickup to bring up things about the murder, and then claims to have a message from Natalie's late husband Mitch. Swift gives a message from Helen Gruber to Natalie, who in turn agrees to relay the message to Monk, although after the conversation is over, she suspects that Swift is merely an attention-seeking fraud seeking to get publicity from the murder.

When Monk and Natalie see Lance Vaughan again, they confront him about not telling them that Helen was hearing voices. He admits that he didn't want Helen to be remembered for slipping into dementia. They are then summoned by Kealoha down to his police station. While they are leaving, they find that someone has just vandalized Brian Galloway's car, apparently his comeuppance for lying about not being married. After picking up a rental car at the airport, they arrive at the station. Kealoha shows them video footage from the snorkeling trip Lance was on. They catch him ogling another woman on the boat, whom they suspect him of having an affair with. Monk also notices some files on a number of local burglaries, much to Natalie's chagrin, and notices that all of the burglaries happened at specific times of the day depending on the neighborhood, and asks Kealoha to join them for a game of golf at a local golf course the next morning.

Natalie is upset that Monk has decided to offer to solve the burglary cases in addition to the murder. She confronts him about this over dinner, but Monk doesn't appear to mind. However, as they are getting up to leave, they see the mystery woman from the video. Natalie's curiosity is piqued, and under the pretense of taking an evening drive, she decides to see if Swift's messages are accurate. Monk and Natalie follow the mystery woman to another bungalow, where they find that indeed, this woman has been seeing Lance. A break comes the next morning when they identify her as a woman named Roxanne Shaw, who is from Ohio, just like Lance.

When Monk and Natalie return to their hotel room, Natalie decides to tell Monk about her meeting with Swift. She admits that she figured out the connection between Lance and the mystery woman based on what Swift told her. Monk suggests that Swift didn't pull that information out of thin air, but learned it by spying on them. He proceeds to explain to Natalie how Swift carries out his shows: he uses cold reading, where he tricks a person into giving him the information he needs to make it seem like he's getting his information from the afterlife. He makes basic deductions in order to make guesses about people, and also uses unique phrasing to reduce the amount of necessary wiggle room. Monk explains that this is just what Swift was doing on Natalie at the bar, although the con works better with a lot of people. Case in point, Monk utilizes the show they witnessed the day of their arrival: Swift had said he was sensing the letter "G" and a man named Gary got up and asked if the message was for him, and in turn, Swift then said that the message he was receiving came from a recently deceased member of his family, and said that her name had an "M" or an "E", or both letters in the same name, and he said the message was from Gary's sister Margaret.

As for Natalie, Monk explains that what Swift did to her was use claims that he had messages from Mitch in order to win her sympathy and make her easier to prey on. Natalie breaks down crying as she recalls what Swift told her - he recognized the bikini she was wearing at the bar as one Mitch bought her, despite the fact that he never met the man once, meaning there should be no way Swift could know that Mitch had purchased said bikini for Natalie during a vacation in Mexico. Monk determines that Swift, as the professional conman he is, did research to determine the approximate age of the bathing suit and made a lucky guess.

The next morning, Monk, Natalie and Kealoha go to the local golf course to stake out the burglar. Monk immediately exposes a mailman making deliveries to a nearby residential neighborhood as one of the burglars. While they are on the course, Kealoha mentions that Helen Gruber is Lance's third elderly wife. He marries elderly women and inherits their money when they die, and the last two died of natural causes.

Returning to the hotel after a late lunch, Monk notices Brian Galloway's vandalized rental car has been returned, repaired, and now in someone else's possession. But he's curious why the body shop replaced the seats in the car as well. Before he can dwell on that, they are approached by hotel manager Martin Kamakele, who seeks to resolve a conflict caused by Monk asking the cleaning ladies to fold bath towels on his floor instead of roll them, making them fall behind schedule. He resolves the situation by moving Monk and Natalie to Helen Gruber's bungalow. In questioning Kamakele, Monk learns more about Helen's complaints about hearing voices, and also learns that Dylan Swift has been taping some of his shows at the resort for the past few years after Kamakele purchased the resort and oversaw a renovation that included the addition of a production facility.

Monk and Natalie move into the bungalow that afternoon. No sooner have they moved in that Dylan Swift shows up to try playing more mind games on them. Knowing that Swift is just a con artist who exploits peoples' vulnerabilities for money, Monk is naturally hostile to him. He is also very suspicious about the fact that Swift has taken an interest in Helen's murder and the fact that he seems to know about details the police haven't released to the public. Things boil over though when Swift's attempts to manipulate Monk fail and he turns to trying to manipulate Natalie's emotions by bringing up details about Mitch again, details that, like before, he could not have easily had access to. Monk is angered to see Swift trying to use Natalie as a tool, and swiftly ejects him from the bungalow. In spite of the ordeal, over a game of sorting peanut shells, Natalie asks Monk about Trudy's death to see if Swift's advice might give him closure. Monk dismisses it, given he knows Swift's con game.

A later conversation that evening with Lance Vaughan and Roxanne Shaw seems to convince Monk that they may have been behind Helen's death. Things get worse for Monk and Natalie when, the night they move into the bungalow, their car is stolen from outside in the lot. They file a police report and get a new rental car from a different agency. After a brief sightseeing excursion, they take lunch at a saimin joint. Monk convinces Natalie to purchase a distinctive type of pie as they depart, and he suddenly realizes something else: some of the shelves in the bungalow's fridge had been put in upside down, and one of Swift's "messages" included a mention about pie. He comes to the conclusion that the killer may have stuffed Helen's body in the fridge and kept it stored overnight before dumping the body in the pool. This is enough damning evidence for the police to arrest Lance for the murder.

With the murder investigation apparently solved, Natalie prepares to enjoy some more sightseeing, but Monk still has his eyes fixed on nailing Swift and sending him to prison. Natalie pleads for Monk to leave Swift alone, and Monk reluctantly agrees.

The next day, the duo heads up to Waimea Canyon for pictures. Their trip is cut short though by Monk's fear of heights, which forces them to drive back downhill to Waimea. They pay a visit to a small gift shop for souvenirs, where Natalie picks up a pair of Red Dirt shirts for Julie. While they are shopping, Natalie gets a cell phone call from Captain Stottlemeyer. He tells her the news of Swift's involvement in the case has reached the national newspapers. Stottlemeyer agrees over the phone about Monk's suspicion that Swift is an attention seeker who will do anything to get publicity. Natalie is furious upon realizing Swift was using her and Monk as unwitting pawns in a publicity stunt, and as they prepare to drive back to Poipu Beach, she retracts her earlier suggestion about leaving Swift alone and tells Monk to do anything he can to ruin Swift. Moments later, Monk and Natalie are about to pass through a green light when their car is t-boned by a pickup truck which then flees the scene. They are able to provide Kealoha a description of both the truck and the driver, who apparently ran a red light when he hit them. Monk is suspicious about the fact that the truck driver never once slowed down or tried to stop, like he didn't notice that there was a red signal for him. While at the scene, Kealoha informs them that Lance Vaughan has lawyered up, but he's been forced to release Roxanne Shaw due to a lack of evidence to link her to the murder.

Upon being dropped off at the Grand Kiahuna Poipu, Monk and Natalie find a newspaper with an article about Swift's involvement in getting Lance arrested. The article even mentions Monk by name. Natalie takes this as an opportunity to tell Monk about Swift leaving a message for him about seeing a hand with six fingers. Monk is incensed, knowing that that is a detail about the bomber who killed Trudy, a detail only he, Natalie, Stottlemeyer and Lieutenant Disher are aware of, indicating Swift somehow found out about this, too. Monk and Natalie immediately march over to Swift's bungalow to confront him. When they see him, he has a blister on one hand, which he claims he got when he burned his hand making breakfast that morning. They accuse him of using Helen Gruber's murder to boost publicity for himself. Monk brings himself to ask questions about Trudy's death, to the point that Natalie is uncertain whether or not Monk is being honest or he's just trying to draw Swift out.

That night, Monk and Natalie decide to participate in the hotel's luau. The event will include men digging up a roasted pig that has been placed in a six foot deep pit covered in banana leaves. Things begin rather badly (thanks to Monk, of course, complaining about how unsanitary their practices are), but things take a startling turn for the worst when the men assigned to dig up the pig instead dig up a cooked human body.

To Monk and Natalie's surprise, the dead man is Martin Kamakele, identified from a wallet in his pants pocket. The medical examiner concludes that someone viciously beat him to death with a shovel. Monk insists that Kamakele's death has to be connected to Helen Gruber's death somehow, given the MOs are similar, but he also finds some clues that suggest one distinct difference between the two murders: Helen's death was very well planned, but Kamakele's murder was not premeditated and was committed either in the heat of a fight or in a fit of rage. For one thing, the roasted pig that the body was buried above had been buried for nine hours, and the body was buried just over it, suggesting that Kamakele was killed sometime that afternoon in broad daylight. This indicates that the killer only tried to delay the body's discovery as opposed to dispose of it. Natalie considers it eerie that both murders were committed in broad daylight and both victims were killed with objects that the killer happened to find lying nearby.

Upon returning to the bungalow for the night, Monk tells Natalie a very moving Trudy story about her security blanket. He describes it as a yellow blanket that she became so attached to as a kid that she couldn't sleep without it. She called it her night-night, and she carried it all the way to her death, and Monk claims he even buried it with her. Natalie is moved by the story, which Monk insists is one he hasn't told anyone up until now.

The next morning, Natalie finds Monk preparing to send a letter to Stottlemeyer. Monk has the letter notarized and mailed. While he's doing that, Natalie notices Swift getting into his limo to go to the airport. Later that day, Natalie finds Monk straightening some of the artwork out, despite the maids just having cleaned the place. They are interrupted when Kealoha calls them to mention that their first rental car has been found abandoned in a shopping mall parking lot.

Monk and Natalie are driven to meet Kealoha by the stolen car. Monk quickly notices that the car seats now have stains on them, which they didn't have before the theft. He recognizes the seats as coming from Brian Galloway's car. He develops a theory and gets Natalie to rent another newly arrived car, then take it to the police station. Once there, he borrows a knife and cuts open the seat fabric despite Natalie's protests, revealing that they are packed with cocaine - Monk remembers Kealoha talking about how most goods have to be imported, and reasons that that fact of life also applies to drugs. Every fresh rental car is being used to smuggle in drugs, and the dealers are using inside men at the rental agencies to tip them off to which cars have the drugs. They then send out men to wreck, vandalize, or steal the rental vehicles, knowing that seemingly random thefts and accidents involving rental vehicles are not likely to be something the police or rental agencies will be suspicious of. Once in the shop, they switch out the drug loaded seats for emptied seats from the last drug-transporting vehicle. Kealoha acknowledges that there is one body shop in the town of Kapaa that gets most of the body shop work for rental cars, and concludes that said body shop is probably a front for an illegal drug operation.

The next day, Monk takes his Doxiynl for their flight back to San Francisco. Natalie returns home and gets her affairs in order with her mother, who has been babysitting Julie, before going to sleep. She oversleeps and is hastily woken up in the morning by a wake-up call from Monk, who is ready to expose Swift when he tapes his show later that day at a hotel downtown. Monk and Natalie head to the hotel, and find two front row seats in the audience, as well as Stottlemeyer and Disher, both of whom Monk has summoned to the show. Randy mentions before the show begins that he is eager to use Swift to communicate with a late uncle of his that died ten years ago.

When the show begins, Swift senses a name beginning with an "M". Randy recognizes Swift's descriptions as the late uncle he described. Monk, Natalie and Stottlemeyer watch as Swift talks about the late uncle's secret fishing hole. The conversation is enough to get Randy to act like he believes Swift's claims. Swift moves on to Monk, and invites him up to the stage, claiming to be receiving a message from Trudy on the other side. He senses something yellow, and with some coaxing from Monk, identifies it as Trudy's security blanket. This is a shocker to Natalie, who wonders how Swift knows about the security blanket story when she's the only person Monk has ever told it to. As soon as Swift is finished describing the story, Monk immediately announces that he's solved the case.

Lee Goldberg has also written several episodes ("Mr. Monk Goes to Mexico", "Mr. Monk Meets the Godfather", and "Mr. Monk Can't See a Thing") and the novel Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse and ten other Monk novels (as of September 2011). At least two more–Mr. Monk on Patrol and Mr. Monk is a Mess–are scheduled for publication in 2012.

Goldberg is also the author of the Diagnosis: Murder novels, which are based on the TV series on which he served as executive producer and principal writer. His other books include Watch Me Die, Unsold Television Pilots, Successful Television Writing, and The Walk. His TV writing and/or producing credits include Martial Law, Diagnosis: Murder, Hunter, Baywatch, 1-800-Missing and Monk.