Monk (2002) - 3x15 - Mr. Monk and the Election

With her daughter's school about to be closed as a cost-cutting measure, Natalie becomes a candidate in the upcoming school board election despite Monk's fears that she'll desert him if she wins. Natalie's frustrations with a jammed photocopier and other defective equipment bought at a police auction are dwarfed by fear for her life when a sniper fires into her campaign headquarters, further damaging the equipment and killing a security guard. The only clues to the identity of the sniper are an oddly folded note demanding that "Natalie Teege" withdraw from the election and a bullet from a semiautomatic rifle made in Russia. Suspicion falls on Natalie's opponent in the election, Harold Krenshaw, whom Monk knows as a fellow patient of Dr. Kroger's. Although Monk thinks that Krenshaw is lying about his friendship with Dr. Kroger and Krenshaw admits to being an excellent shot, Monk is sure that Krenshaw is innocent because he wouldn't misspell Natalie's name. When Krenshaw passes a polygraph test that eliminates him as a suspect, Stottlemeyer concentrates on protecting Natalie, assigning Disher the role of full-time bodyguard, only to have the perp throw a hand grenade through a window in an attempt to kill Monk. A fragment of the grenade reveals that it was made in Chechnya, solidifying the Russian connection. At a debate between Natalie and Krenshaw, one of Natalie's campaign workers hands Monk a flyer folded exactly the same way as the note, and Monk informs Disher that "he's the guy." Following this new lead, Stottlemeyer discovers that the man is suspected by the FBI of being a major arms dealer and decides to go after him, but it's only when Monk is suffering from claustrophobia in a voting booth that he figures out the man's motive and anticipates his next move. The perp is arrested and Stottlemeyer finds the evidence he needs to convict him. The outcome for Natalie and Monk is bittersweet; she loses the election and he learns that Krenshaw was telling the truth (or something close to it) about Dr. Kroger.

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