Natalie Teeger has picked up a few detective skills during her years as Adrian Monk's loyal assistant, and she's eager to use them. But that's not easy when you work with a deductive genius. Then a man with no identity is found dead of natural causes, and neither Monk nor the police see any reason to get involved. It helps that Monk is distracted by a series of brutal murders that seem to be tied to a worthless secondhand couch.