Mr. Monk is Cleaned Out by Lee Goldberg Read Free Book Online Page A

said. “The point I’m making is that it’s still tap water. You might as well offer me a refreshing glass of battery acid.”
    Disher walked over to the watercooler and filled a paper cup with water. He sipped it. “I had no idea this was Star Trek water. It actually tastes like the future.”
    “Did the forensics report come in on Clasker’s car?” I asked.
    “Yeah,” Disher said, returning to his desk with his paper cup of water. “No hidden compartments or secret mechanisms, but we found lots of fingerprints. Most of ’em are from Clasker and his family, or from people we can’t ID, but we got two interesting hits. Some of the prints belonged to Moggridge, the man Clasker was supposed to testify against.”
    “Where was Moggridge at the time of the murder?” Monk asked.
    “Sitting in the courtroom waiting for Clasker to show up,” Disher said. “But you’ve broken better alibis than that.”
    “Moggridge could have taken a ride with Clasker in his car months ago,” Monk said.
    “Or maybe this proves that Moggridge cased Clasker’s car for the guy he hired to do the killing,” Disher said.
    “You still have to find the killer,” I said.
    “I think we have,” Disher said. “One of the prints we found belongs to Armando Alvarez, who is wanted in Mexico for carrying out dozens of executions for the Juarez drug cartel. We just arrested him.”
    “How did you find him?” Monk asked.
    “Some of the other prints in the car belong to guys at a car wash a few blocks from where Clasker was killed. I sent some officers to see if they could match some of the other unidentified prints to workers there. When the officers showed up, one of car wash guys bolted. The officers tackled him. It was Alvarez. He got sloppy and left a fingerprint behind when he murdered Clasker.”
    “Or maybe that’s where Clasker went to get his car washed,” Monk said. “And it’s a coincidence that one of the workers is a wanted fugitive.”
    “Or maybe Alvarez picked that place because it was close to Van Ness and Sutter,” Disher said. “He could slip away, murder Clasker, and be back on the line without anybody noticing. The car wash was his alibi.”
    “How did he get in and out of Clasker’s car without anybody seeing him?” I asked.
    “I don’t know. But Alvarez is the guy. We just have to figure out how he did it.” Disher studied his cup of water. “Maybe he found a way to distill himself in and out of the car.”
    Stottlemeyer opened the door to his office. He looked like he’d been up all night and it hadn’t been much fun. “Come in, I want to talk with you.”
    Disher started to get up, but Stottlemeyer held up his hand in a halting gesture. “Just Monk and Natalie. This is a private matter.”
    “Oh, I get it,” Disher said, grinning. “This is about my birthday, isn’t it?”
    “You got a birthday coming up?” Stottlemeyer asked Disher as Monk and I walked into the dark office. “When?”
    “As if you didn’t know,” Disher said. “I’ve never had a surprise party, so this will be a real surprise.”
    Stottlemeyer gave Disher a long, dead-eyed stare, then closed the door and turned to me. “Do you know when his birthday is?”
    “In two days.”
    “Oh, hell. I guess I’d better get him something. What does he like?”
    “How should I know?” I said.
    “Women always know these kinds of things,” Stottlemeyer said.
    “You’ve worked with the man for years and you don’t know what he likes?”
    “We’re coworkers. We aren’t dating.”
    I sighed. For a man who detected for a living, it was amazing to me how clueless he could be sometimes. “What did you want to talk to us about, Captain?”
    “You mean it’s not about Randy’s surprise party?” Monk said.
    “No, Monk, it’s not.” The captain sat on the edge of his desk and faced us. “I’m afraid I’ve got some very bad news.”
    “It can’t be worse than the news I got yesterday,” Monk said. Then his eyes