One Night Changes Everything

It took all of twenty five minutes to reach the house. It took Monk less than five to realize that the couple living there had absolutely nothing to do with Carmen's death.

Even then, Adrian Monk knew that somehow – someway – this home was connected to the puzzle pieces of solving Carmen's death.

When Monk began to walk around the home, while the captain continued to 'interrogate' the couple, did Monk see something very interesting.

"Captain!" Monk exclaimed as he examined the wall dividing the office and kitchen.

Captain Stottlemeyer quickly excused himself and sauntered over to Monk.

Monk was already pointing to the spot where he saw something unusual.

"What is it?" Leland asked as he stared at the wall.

"Look…" Monk said as he smirked as he again pointed at the small bit of wall.

Stottlemeyer did look, and saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"I don't see anything Monk."

"Mr. and Mrs. Donahue, have you redecorated since entering the home?" Monk asked as he walked back towards them.

The couple looked at each other then back at Monk.

"We didn't really need to, everything was to our liking. We just purchased some new curtains and sofa's…but no. Not really."

Monk smiled, which kind of freaked Randy and the Captain out as it always did.

"Why, may I ask," Monk said as he turned back to the wall, "Didn't you remove the only piece of Wallpaper in the room?"

At that everyone looked at Monk as if he was crazy.

"Uh…" Stottemeyer began, "Monk! What wallpaper?"

Monk again pointed to the wall that he had been standing in front of.

Everyone stared at Monk as if he was crazy. Fortunately for Monk - he was quite use to it.

Extending his arms up in the air he motioned around the room.

"The whole house is painted in a white semi gloss," Monk stated and then lowered his arms and pointed with one hand to the partition, "this wall has a white flat finish. It's actually one huge piece of wallpaper."

Everyone looked at Monk in a kind of shocked horrific incredulous way.

"You can tell the difference in white paint?" The Captain asked with the usual sarcastic yet dumbfounded tone that he usually adapted when he discovered another one of Monk's weird yet funny quirks.

Monk just shrugged his shoulders. "It looks completely different."

The Captain just smirked and nodded his head. "Of course it does."

Monk then proceeded to knock on the wall until about waist high in the middle of the wall the distinct thud of metal being hit was heard.

Monk looked sideways to Stottlemeyer with a little smirk. The captain reciprocated and then turned to the owners of the home to ask for permission to see what was behind the wallpaper.

Within the next few minutes the huge piece of wallpaper was destroyed. With it's destruction revealing a small metal door with a notch for allowing it to open the small swinging door.

When Monk opened the door all of them became confused at the sight of a stack of folders with papers filling them excessively to cause the folders to bulge.

Randy, Leland, and Adrian stood rifling through the pages upon pages.

"What is this?" The captain asked as he continued to scan the papers.

Monk knew exactly what it was.

"Judge Catherine Lavinio's case files."

Both Randy and Leland looked confused.

"Why would Herrera have the judge's files?"

Monk shook his head. "I don't know."

"Well these papers make no sense..." Randy said as he handed Monk the file that he had been going through.

As Monk took the file his eyes scanned few pages before he gasped.

"Oh my God." Monk mumbled.

"What? What is it?" Leland asked with eyebrows raised.

Monk looked up from the documents he was holding.

"I know what was going on. These are names and figures... of people sold."

Again both Leland and Randy didn't understand what Monk was talking about.

"Human trafficking."

As the words left Monk's mouth Leland felt sick to his stomach. The sudden understand of what all of the things that he had been looking at suddenly making his stomach heave.

"So...the judge was part of a human trafficking organization?" Randy asked completely stunned at the idea.

"I think she was more then part of it," Monk turned the pages towards Randy and Leland, "I think she was the one that arranged all of the shipment of the 'merchandise'. See right here..." Monk pointed to the list of names and numbers, "these are names, ages, and values transported."

As the information sunk in only two words escaped the Captain's mouth.

"My God!"

Monk just stared and pages upon pages of figures. The urge to rush home and scrub his body until he was bleeding overcame him. The knowledge of something like this occurring made him feel disgusted at even knowing such information.

"So what does 0.9 mean?" Randy asked in a scared whisper.

"Nine months." Monk said in a whisper, almost as if the words were to be spoken louder would cause an earthquake.

It was then that Stottlemeyer's eyes began to indicate that he had noticed something.

"Waitaminutewaitaminute! Look at the initials listed as the person paid!"

W.S.

Those were the initials listed.

"Now look at the initials at the bottom of who paid for all of the shipment!"

D.B.

Dale Biderbeck

Monk's eyes scanned the page quickly...his mind racing. Trying to find someway of deciphering who it was. And that's when he saw it.

The address of where the 'merchandise' was being picked up from.

"My God..." The words almost whispered out of Monk's mouth.

A connection that he had been searching for soo long shows up in a place he never would have suspected.

"I know who it is."

Stottlemeyer and Disher turned to stare at a watery eyed Monk.

Both never expecting the turn of events that were about to unfold.