Detective Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) flies to New York City to find criminal Warrick Tennyson (Frank Collison). In the preceding episode, criminal Dale "The Whale" Biederbeck (Tim Curry) told Monk that Tennyson was involved in the murder of Monk's wife, Trudy. On the trip, Monk is accompanied by his nurse Sharona Fleming (Bitty Schram), and police officers Captain Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) and Lieutenant Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford). They stay at the same hotel as the Latvian ambassador, who is subsequently discovered shot to death along with his two bodyguards. Police Captain Walter Cage (Mykelti Williamson) asks for Monk's help in solving the murder. Monk notices the ambassador's coat is damp, even though it had been dry minutes before the murder.