he arrested Gruber eight months earlier for making an illegal drug buy. Monk concludes that Gruber is the person who killed Officer Milner. Milner, not Gruber, identified the Golden Gate Strangler, but as Milner was a police officer and hence a city employee, he could not collect the reward, so he recruited Gruber to find it on the grounds they would split the money. But Gruber wanted all of the money, so he killed Milner. Monk and Natalie go to the jail to question Herrin, bribing him with Natalie's left shoe. Monk shows a photo of Officer Milner, and Herrin remembers Milner as the officer who pulled him over for speeding. Herrin accidentally ran a red light and clipped another car in the intersection, but they both walked away like nothing happened. He dented his bumper and broke one of his rear taillights. Then Herrin got pulled over for doing 35 MPH in a 25 MPH zone. Milner saw the shoes and realized that he had just accidentally found the Golden Gate Strangler. Natalie calls Gruber asking him to meet them at the pier. At the pier, Monk reveals that Herrin only broke his taillight and dented his bumper after he left the park. Stottlemeyer explains that they have a search warrant and are going to test his clothes for gunshot residue that will match the gun that killed Milner. Gruber takes Monk hostage, but when Monk vomits, Gruber is distracted, shot, and arrested. Mayor Smitrovich is humiliated that he rewarded a cop killer, and he caves in to all of the police union's demands in exchange for a cover up in the press, claiming he knew Gruber was guilty all along and was cooperating with the police in a sting. The reinstatement of Monk, Wyatt, Chow, and Porter is now void, and they cannot be rehired due to the hiring freeze. Wyatt, Chow, and Porter start up their own detective agency, and tell Monk there will always be a position for him there if he wants it. Natalie tells the other detectives' assistants to keep in touch. Natalie goes to traffic school to burn off her speeding ticket. List of characters Characters from the television series Adrian Monk - the titular detective Natalie Teeger - Monk's loyal assistant and the narrator of the book Captain Leland Stottlemeyer - Captain of the Homicide Division, Monk's oldest friend and former partner