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MR. MONK AND THE GENIUS (#702)
EPISODE PREMIERE: July 25, 2008
Monk keeps digging. He goes to Kloster’s home and finds a poisonous plant in Kloster’s garden. The presence of the plant alone is not enough to make an arrest. But if Monk found some already-prepared poison in Kloster’s house, the police would have a case. Sensing that Monk is thinking of planting evidence, Stottlemeyer warns Monk not to cross the line.
Obsessed with fulfilling his promise to Linda, Monk ignores Stottlemeyer’s advice and breaks into Kloster’s house with a bottle of poison. All Monk has to do is leave the bottle, but his conscience won’t allow him to plant evidence. Then, a light clicks on. It’s Patrick Kloster! He’s been waiting for Monk, having anticipated his move once again. As they talk, Monk spots an engraved silver tray. It’s a wedding gift from Patrick Kloster’s first marriage. Monk hadn’t realized that Patrick was married before Linda, and sure enough, Patrick’s first wife also died of a heart attack. Monk gets permission to exhume the body of Kloster’s first wife, but a thorough examination finds no poison of any kind in the body.
Growing desperate, Monk tracks Kloster down at a chess tournament. Monk knows that Kloster poisoned both of his wives, but he can’t prove it. It appears that the smug chess master will get away scot-free, when Monk notices Kloster “castling” – a chess move where the King and Rook switch places. Something clicks in Monk’s head, and this time, he knows he’s got Kloster.
Monk returns to the cemetery for another exhumation. The police dug up the wrong body the first time, thanks to a very clever maneuver by Kloster. With no time to get rid of his first wife’s body, which would indeed test positive for poison, Kloster instead switched his first wife’s headstone for another. The body the police exhumed the first time was a complete stranger. This time, Monk makes sure to find the correct gravesite, and the murderous chess master can only look on in defeat, beaten at his own game. In the end, it’s Monk who’s a step ahead of his opponent, as always.
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