Mr. Monk in Trouble
Lee Goldberg
 The story opens with a diary excerpt from the early 1850s, narrated by a young woman named Abigail Guthrie, who lives with her farmer husband Hank in the middle of Kansas. Hearing about the discovery of gold out west in California, and hoping for a better life, they leave Kansas and migrate to California, ending up in the small mining camp of Trouble. As years go by, Abigail struggles to support Hank, who eventually becomes ill and dies of natural cases portaining to his "gold fever" (desire for gold). Struggling to find a job in the aftermath of her husband's death, she eventually is found and hired by Artemis Monk, one of the most important people in the town due to his job as an assayer (who examines rocks and tells miners what the worthiness of their mining operation is going to look like). However, as Abigail soon finds out, Artemis is also known for his worthy reputation of solving crimes. 150 years later, in 2008, the main story of Mr. Monk in Trouble opens on Halloween, which couldn't be worse for Adrian Monk. He hates trick-or-treaters, and considers it a form of extortion. Nonetheless, he gets a bit of a reprieve when a man named Clarence Lenihan shows up at his door. Monk exposes him as a killer on the fact that he is wearing a confession - blood spatter on his clothes. Captain Stottlemeyer arrives and arrests Lenihan. Two days later, Monk and Natalie Teeger are called to the police station, where Stottlemeyer informs them of a favor he would like them to do. It involves a retired SFPD beat cop named Manny Feikema, who retired a few years earlier and moved to the tiny old mining town of Trouble, in central California. He signed up as a security guard at their history museum a few months later, and worked that job until a few nights ago, when he was bludgeoned and killed while doing his rounds. It wouldn't be any of the SFPD's business, but the Trouble police chief has contacted Stottlemeyer to see if someone Manny put away has been released recently. Stottlemeyer has Monk and Natalie go out to Trouble to assist the chief, which he can't do because he is out of vacation days. Monk and Natalie make their way east towards Trouble, though they almost turn back when they drive through a big swarm of migrating butterflies that leave the windshield completely filthy. They introduce themselves to Harley Kelton, the local police chief and a former Boston cop, who takes them to the Gold Rush Museum, housed inside Trouble's old train station. Monk observes the scene, and learns that Manny Feikema had a routine - he had to walk the perimeter every hour and log in at sensors placed around to confirm that he wasn't sleeping at his desk. Kelton notes that the killer struck Manny over the head with a pick from a diorama and left at about 2:32 AM. Monk notes some interesting details: namely, why did the killer use the pick instead of using one of the closer weapons? And why does nothing appear to have been taken, more or less, even searched? Monk and Natalie take great interest in the museum's centerpiece: the actual steam locomotive from the "famous" Golden Rail Express train. According to the museum director, Ed Randisi, the locomotive was part of a train consist involved in a renowned holdup in 1963. It seems that the Golden Rail Express train was a private railroad built in the 19th century to run the wealthy barons from San Francisco and Sacramento up to their mining operations in Trouble. It was eventually made a public operation, and shortened to start in Sacramento. A high stakes poker game contrived by a developer proposing a housing tract in Trouble would mark the final run in 1963. During the game, the train was held up by three masked men, who robbed the gambling car in a brazen heist. One security guard was shot and killed and the conductor, Ralph DeRosso, fell off the train and died of his injuries. Two of the robbers, George Gilman and Jake Slocum, were eventually caught, but what happened the gold has always been a mystery. Several theories have come up since the robbery as to what happened. The most widely known theory is that the burlap bags containing the loot were thrown off the train. This theory has several holes in it: if the fall was bad enough that the conductor died, then the bags could have broken open and spilled their contents everywhere, yet the only things discovered during a search of the tracks were the discarded guns and masks used by the robbers. Interested in learning more about the train robbery, Monk and Natalie visit the office of Doris Thurlo, Trouble's historian. She has a momentary panic attack when Monk introduces himself, and for a moment appears to be having a panic attack when she refers to Natalie as "Abby". Monk and Natalie are both confused by Doris's unusual behavior, but she regains control of herself and admits that she mistook Adrian for Artemis Monk, Trouble's renowned assayer during the Gold Rush period and the diary excerpt in the prologue. In fact, Doris Thurlo's office is Artemis's old cabin, called the Box House because of its perfectly square shape. According to Doris, Artemis Monk was a very important figure in Trouble, responsible for sampling and testing rock samples brought in by miners and then telling them how good their claim was. He also helped their sheriff, Sheriff Wheeler, solve the most puzzling of the crimes that took place in the mining town. In regards to the train robbery, Monk and Natalie learn from Doris that Slocum and Gilman, the arrested robbers, were caught because they carried distinctive gold coins in their pockets and were caught carrying them when they got off. Gilman was the one who shot the guard, and interestingly, both of them claimed to have been hired by Ralph DeRosso to pull off the robbery. They also learn more about the other important players on the train that night - Gilman died in prison, but Slocum made parole in the early 1990s. The engineer, Leonard McElroy, and the boilerman, Clifford Adams, also didn't hear anything. The train, it turns out, was supposed to be discontinued after the run during which the heist happened, but as a result of the overnight fame from the robbery, the service continued for another twenty years until 1982. Though McElroy died of lung cancer six months before the service was discontinued, Adams worked until the very last day and now lives in an old mine shack outside of Trouble. The locomotive is the only remaining car of the train to have survived being scrapped. During the next part of the story, there are small breaks away from the modern story where Natalie reads from The Amazing Mr. Monk, a diary written by Artemis's assistant Abigail Guthrie (also the narrator of the prologue at the beginning of the book) about Artemis's exploits. All of the sub-stories are narrated from Abigail's point-of-view, much like the parent novel is narrated from Natalie's point-of-view. During their first night in Trouble, Natalie first reads a story called "The Case of Piss-Poor Gold," about an incident where Artemis proves a cowhand named Bud Lolly guilty of smashing in a miner's skull and stealing his gold simply from the splinters and tar on his clothing before even seeing the body. Later, after having dinner with Kelton, Natalie reads "The Case of the Snake in the Grass," where Artemis exposes a placer miner's scheme to salt his property and con the man he is selling his property to. The next day, Monk and Natalie visit Dorothy's Chuckwagon, the local diner, and talk to Crystal, Ralph DeRosso's daughter, about the Golden Rail Express robbery. She mentions that McElroy and Adams both gave portions of their paychecks to the DeRosso family, which would most likely not have happened if they knew that DeRosso was one of the robbers. While they are eating, they also encounter Bob Gorman, the local auto mechanic and now the museum's volunteering security guard, who has information about the Manny Feikema case - he tells them that a few days before the murder, a man driving a 1964 Thunderbird (unique because it was the type of model equipped with a swing-away steering column) stopped by his garage and asked him some questions about Manny, apparently wanting to see him. With some consulting from Kelton, Monk and Natalie locate and track down Clifford Adams at his old shack. He mentions that the train never stopped during the robbery because the robbers threatened to kill anyone who tried to stop the train before they reached Trouble. He also gives several theories about what happened to the gold, but they don't turn out to be useful at all. Thanks to a call to Stottlemeyer, they have managed to also track down Jake Slocum to a retirement home in Angels Camp. They interview him, and Slocum tells them his story in detail: Some time before the robbery, he and Gilman supported themselves by committing muggings and burglaries. While contemplating their next move at a bar in Placerville, they saw Ralph DeRosso and decided that they had an easy mark. As they were about to mug him, he suddenly turned around and recruited them into helping him carry out the robbery of the train. DeRosso took a napkin and drew out a sketch of the train, which was comprised (in order) of a locomotive, a boxcar, the gambling car, the dining car, and then two passenger cars. There were several twists: Slocum and Gilman only would know what they were supposed to do, so neither of them were sure whether DeRosso planned on double-crossing them or not. According to the plan, Slocum and Gilman were to meet on the platform outside the gambling car at a prearranged point (when the lights flickered for a few seconds; which would happen several times during the trip). At the arranged time, they were to put on their masks, and then burst into the gambling car, taking the guard by surprise. After overpowering him, they would load the money into burlap sacks brought in by a robber entering from the forward end of the car. This third man would then take the bags with him, Slocum and Gilman would then toss their stuff off the train, and then rejoin the party in the dining car, without ever being missed. This entire aforementioned plan was perfect in planning, but when it was actually executed, things didn't work out correctly: first, Gilman shot and killed the guard instead of disarming him, and DeRosso somehow fell from the moving train. During the interview, Kelton arrives and informs Monk and Natalie that he's found a person of interest from Gorman's tip, an enforcer Manny put away named Gator Dunsen, who is living at his place in Jackson. As they follow Kelton to Gator's house, Natalie tries running some other theories about the robbery, but Monk shoots them all down, since her theories don't explain where the secret compartment the gold was rumored to have been hidden in went. When they reach Gator's house, a shootout ensues between Gator and Kelton, who eventually kills him. Monk and Natalie are ejected from the scene by Detective Lydia Wilder of the state police, who also berates Kelton for pursuing Gator without contacting them. The evidence hinting that Gator is the killer is overwhelming - Gorman's statement from the restaurant, and photos recovered from Gator's house of the museum's diorama that suggest that Gator was casing the gallery. However, as Monk and Natalie return to Trouble, Monk points out several holes in the circumstances around Gator's death - for one thing, his car was squeaky clean, yet it would have gotten dirty going into or out of Trouble since you have to pass through the swarm of migrating butterflies. Also, if the diorama photos were ones he took while casing the museum for a hiding place, how come the pick used as the murder weapon is not present in any of them? Monk believes that someone planted those photos to lure them astray and suspects that Gorman is lying about them. When they do reach Trouble, they notice Clifford Adams leaving the museum in his pickup truck. Monk wonders what Adams might be up to. They also notice Gorman watching Adams with very keen interest. That night, Natalie reads from Abigail Guthrie's diary "The Case of the Cutthroat Trail," where Artemis solves a miner's murder just based on how the killer slit the guy's throat. The next morning, she gets a call that seems to be coming from Clifford Adams, who says "I want to live," like he is in danger. Monk and Natalie race out to Adams's compound, but they are too late: he is dead. As they are observing, Monk accidentally falls into an old mine shaft. Natalie ends up dislocating her shoulder and ripping some of her fingernails out when she is pulling him up. Once he's safely up, Monk confirms that Adams is dead by noting that vultures are now eating at him. He also believes that the killer called Natalie and was intending for them to fall into one of the abandoned mine shafts that are located all over the area. Monk is forced to drive the car back to the main road where they are able to get a signal to call for help. Natalie is taken to the hospital, and her arm is put into a sling after Kelton pops her shoulder back into place. While at the hospital, Natalie asks Monk to read a story from the diary. Monk reads "The Case of the Golden Rail Express," which shows that the Golden Rail Express train was held up many times before the famous robbery in the 1960s. The earlier robbery discussed is one where two local men from Trouble held up the train, killed three people and shot two others, and then made off with their money, which was later used in an attempt to salt their mine so they could con the businessman they were selling out to. Natalie spends much of the day in a stupor, finally coming around in the evening. She also finds that Monk has gone out, but he has apparently been making calls to Stottlemeyer, Lieutenant Disher, Doris Thurlo, and the voicemail for the museum. Desperate, she tracks down Kelton, and tries to see if he knows where Monk is. As they head towards the museum, Kelton confirms Monk's suspicion that Clifford Adams's killer tried to lure them onto the booby-trap field. He also notes that Adams was struck over the head at around midnight and the body was moved out on the rocks, the "bait". Natalie suspects Gorman of killing Manny Feikema and then somehow leading them astray, meaning he could be involved with Gator Dunsen's death. She also briefly wonders if Gorman killed Adams, but then realizes that at the distance from town to Adams' compound, Gorman would have to have missed one of his rounds driving out there and then back. When Natalie and Kelton enter the museum, they find Gorman looking inside the locomotive's furnace. Kelton draws a gun on him, and Monk comes out of the diorama, revealing that he has solved the robbery of the Golden Rail Express. Monk remembered Clifford Adams mentioning that he had been trying for years to find gold in his mining operation. He figured out what happened to the gold after reading the journal entry about the historic train holdup. It turns out that the Golden Rail Express loot has never left the train. Whether he knew it or not, Jake Slocum was right when he suspected that Ralph DeRosso was the robber who entered the gambling car from in front. Plus, from the beginning, Slocum and Gilman were always skeptical about DeRosso's ability to keep a promise about delivering them their shares of the money (which would have been made six months after the robbery if things went as planned). They were worried that DeRosso might suddenly withdraw their shares of the money. Indeed, Slocum and Gilman did not know that Leonard McElroy and Clifford Adams in the locomotive were also in on the job as well. After they loaded the money into DeRosso's burlap sacks, DeRosso delivered them to Adams and McElroy up in the locomotive. This makes sense - with his experience as both a conductor and as a brakeman, DeRosso was able to easily make his way along the roof of the train to the locomotive. He fell off the train after delivering the sacks to the crew. As for what happened to the gold, it was put into the locomotive's furnace. Monk notes that in the earlier robbery, the robbers hammered the gold into black flakes that they mixed with blasting powder in their salting scheme. In the 1960s robbery, Adams and McElroy tossed the money bags into the furnace of the locomotive. This turns out to be the reason why burlap sacks were used - they were easy to burn. Adams and McElroy tossed the sacks into the furnace, melting down the gold, and used it to line the furnace. The plan was for the furnace to be recovered after the locomotive was scrapped, but this never happened. The resulting fame of the train caused the service to continue for 20 more years. After the train was finally discontinued in 1982, another attempt was made at recovering the furnace, but the locomotive was snatched up by the museum and there was no way the furnace could be recovered and the gold extracted. Monk reveals that Gorman killed Manny Feikema for the job of night watchman and has been spending his nights digging the gold out of the furnace. However, he needed to have Kelton present to prove it. It turns out that Kelton is actually holding his gun on Natalie, not on Gorman. A few weeks before Manny was killed, Kelton read Abigail Guthrie's diary, including the story about the 19th century train robbery. Being a good detective when sober, he figured out what happened, and decided to try recovering the gold, but he knew Manny would not help him out. Kelton instead hired Gorman, who killed Manny for the job. It was because he was digging out the furnace that explain why his hands have received a layer of soot. Kelton is a murderer, however - he is responsible for killing Clifford Adams. Monk reveals that he made that leap from a pebble in a pothole on the road out to Adams' compound. It turns out that this pebble got lodged in Kelton's tire treads when he parked in Gator Dunsen's driveway, and got knocked loose when he passed over a medium pothole on his way out to the compound. Kelton admits that after Monk and Natalie talked to Adams, he must have also figured what was happening to his gold, and went back to the museum, where he had found that Gorman had started digging the gold out of the furnace. Kelton killed him to prevent him from doing anything dangerous. It wasn't hard for Kelton to kill Adams, because he had just killed Gator and tried framing him for Manny's murder. Gorman was responsible for helping Kelton kill and frame Gator. When Monk, Natalie, and Kelton arrived at the house, Gorman was already inside, and he had planted the photos of the diorama to make it look like Gator had cased the museum. Gorman forced Gator at gunpoint to drink himself into a stupor, then tied him up and duct-taped his mouth, and then shot up the front door. Once Monk and Natalie had taken cover and Kelton had entered the house, all of the shots from the shootout, minus the fatal shot that killed Gator (which had to come from Kelton's own gun for obvious reasons), were staged. Kelton spent the extra time staging the scene, removing the duct tape from Gator's mouth, and then covering Gorman's escape out the back door. Monk's leap to the assumption that Gator's mouth had been duct-taped came from the fact that his lips were chapped and bleeding. Kelton prepares to kill the two of them, but then Stottlemeyer, Disher and several police officers burst out of hiding and arrest Gorman and Kelton for their crimes. Natalie is unhappy that Monk used her as part of the trap to catch Kelton, but while at the Chuckwagon, Stottlemeyer admits to her that Monk cared more about catching Kelton than about her feelings. On their last day, they return Abby Guthrie's journal back to Doris Thurlo, who mentions that at some point, Artemis Monk might have married his assistant.