Mr. Monk And The Billionaire Mugger

"Mr. Monk and The Billionaire Mugger" is the seventh episode of the first season of Monk. The episode first aired on the USA Network on August 12th 2002.
Summary
A computer industry magnate masks his identity & tries to mug a couple. Things go wrong when he is shot dead by the man trying to protect his girlfriend. When police find the real identity of the cop, pressure on Stottlemeyer increases. Things turn even more awkward for him when the girlfriend tells that a police cop, who was just a few blocks away from the crime scene during the shooting, fled the scene.
Meanwhile, Sharona threatens Monk that she will quit if she does not get her pay. Seems that only Monk can make the heads & tails of the situation.
Plot
Sidney Teal (J.C. MacKenzie), a computer company magnate who has friends from Bill Clinton to Bill Gates, tells his wife Myra(Jessica Steen) that he is going out to give a lecture. He drives by himself instead of his driver. Sidney drives to a shady area in San Fransisco, puts up a fake moustache, dresses a perp & goes to threaten a couple coming out of theater at knife's edge. The man happens to be a lieutenant Archie Modine, who guns Teal down.
Sharona is suffering from financial problems & fights with Monk to ask for a raise. She is completely angry, because a client whose Picasso painting Monk had recovered has not given them a single cent. Soon, the duo are ushered to the crime scene, where Sharona pesters Stottlemeyer for a raise, while Monk is busy figuring what exactly happened. Modine's girlfriend goes on to tell that she saw another cop on the scene as well, but he ran away from the crime scene. Stottlemeyer is left completely at sea.
Meanwhile, Monk digs around for information. Sidney's autobiography, which was to be released soon, also mentions a lot about his life before becoming famous. When Monk finds that Sidney was in a fraternity named "Phi Beta Tau", he realizes that Modine too was in the same fraternity & that he would have known Sidney. Modine confesses to Stottlemeyer that he was trying to protect Myra. He did not remember Sidney, but he had met Myra in a fundraiser.
Sharona is exasperated at Monk's inability to ask for what is rightfully his & leaves him. She takes a job in a lamp store. Monk immerses himself again in investigation of Trudy's murder. He finds a lead, but is embarassed to know that he has been coming to that address since last 3 years in search of information of Trudy. While going back to home, an unknown person tries to shoot Monk, but Monk gets saved by a whisker.
Meanwhile, Sharona has been doing some digging on her own & ends up interviewing a woman who Sidney claimed to have dated in his autobiography. The woman tells that she did date him & that he was her junior. Sharona looks up some facts from both the autobiography & the woman, only to realize that she should meet Monk fast.
Here's what happened
Sharona finds that the girl whom Sidney dated also faced a similar mugging attempt, only this time, Sidney was the hero. When Sharona finds that even the dialogues were same, she tells it to Monk. Monk figures out that Modine played the mugger 20 years ago, the same mugger played by Sidney Teal. He calls everybody at Teal's home & starts explaining the case alongwith Sharona.
When Modine & Myra met, they started having an extramarital affair. They decided to kill Sidney. Modine met Sidney & while reminding Sidney of that night 20 years ago, told him that he was seeing someone & asked Sidney if he could play the mugger. Sidney did exactly as told, not knowing the truth. Modine figured that he could say that he fired in self-defense & no charges would be pressed against him. Modine was also the person who tried to kill Monk.
Monk surprises everybody by saying that Sidney had made extra effort that night: He paid an actor to play a "cop" who would congradulate Modine for foiling a "mugging". This cop, says Monk, was the Fraidy Cop. Stottlemeyer is left speechless when Monk introduces him to Joseph Moratta(Jonathan Rannells), a young "cop" next to him, as the Fraidy Cop. Monk explains that Joseph sensed that something had gone wrong, hence he fled.
In a ditch attempt, Myra tries to pin the murder solely on Modine, but he gets angered & tries to shoot her. Disher disarms Modine & the police get enough reason to arrest the duo. After Modine has fired a bullet, a frightened Joseph runs out & the media runs behind the Fraidy Cop.
Monk manages to get money from his wealthy client after he & Sharona bring in a "cop". The client gives them some money, but when he realizes that the "cop" is the Fraidy Cop, the trio start running. Sharona bursts into laughter & Monk is unable to control his own laughter seeing Joseph run.

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