Mr. Monk Gets Even by Lee Goldberg

Monk said.
    “To you,” Devlin said. “I’m not convinced.”
    Monk ignored her and pointed to the drawing. “If you look at the tattoo, you’ll see that the two words run together, and that the F in forever is capitalized. There should be a space between the two words. It’s the g at the end of Caring that ruins everything.”
    “You think the tattoo used to say ‘Carin Forever’ and that when they split, Dobbs added the g to the tattoo,” Stottlemeyer said. “That’s why the two words run together.”
    “Exactly,” Monk said.
    “So, just to be clear, you believe that Cleve Dobbs, one of the most well-known men on this planet, and also one of the richest, killed Carin Branham,” Stottlemeyer said. “And you are basing this theory on the fact that there’s no space between the two words Caring and Forever .”
    “There’s more,” Monk said.
    “There always is,” Devlin said.
    “Bruce Grossman, our first victim, replaced Dobbs on the board of Peach,” Monk said.
    “Do you know how many thousands of people in the Bay Area have worked for Peach?” Devlin said.
    “How many of them have fired Cleve Dobbs or broken his heart?” Monk asked. “I am certain if you look into David Zuzelo you’ll find a connection to Dobbs, too.”
    Stottlemeyer ran his hands through what was left of his hair. “Let’s assume that there is. You’re saying that Cleve Dobbs suddenly decided, weeks after the release of his bestselling book, to stroll down memory lane and kill people. Not hire someone to do it, but murder them himself.”
    “Yes,” Monk said.
    “Why?” Stottlemeyer said.
    “I don’t know,” Monk said.
    “Is there anything else, perhaps something that would actually qualify as admissible evidence, that connects the three murders to Dobbs?”
    “What more do you need?” Monk asked.
    “Has it occurred to you that someone with a grudge against Dobbs, or Peach, could be killing these people?” Stottlemeyer asked. “Or that Dobbs, rather than being the killer, could be a potential victim?”
    “No,” Monk said.
    “But that doesn’t mean it isn’t so,” Devlin said.
    “Usually it does,” Monk said.
    “Egomaniac,” Devlin said.
    Stottlemeyer glanced at Julie. “What do you think?”
    “I’m not a detective,” she said.
    “I’m trying to include you in the discussions,” Stottlemeyer said.
    “Honestly, Leland, I’d prefer if you tried to end the discussion instead so I could go home. But I will say that what Mr. Monk is suggesting about the tattoo makes some sense. Johnny Depp had Winona Ryder’s first name tattooed on his arm when they dated and he had it changed to ‘Wino’ when they split up.”
    “Who is Johnny Depp?” Monk asked.
    “He’s a pirate,” Devlin said.
    Stottlemeyer sighed. “Look, I’ve had a long day, one that included watching as a fat murderer got cut open and had all his blubber sucked out. So here’s what I’m going to do. I’m heading home and so are you. In the meantime, Lieutenant Devlin will look into the pasts of both Carin Branham and David Zuzelo for any links to Dobbs or Peach.”
    “I will?” Devlin said. “Just because Monk saw a tattoo on Dobbs’ arm?”
    “It won’t cost us anything to explore the possibility that he’s right. You will have to admit, he usually is. And if Dobbs is a potential victim, I’d like to get to him before the killer does.”
    “He is the killer,” Monk said.
    Stottlemeyer looked at Monk. “If Devlin finds a Peach connection between the victims, then I’ll give you a call and we’ll go talk with Dobbs. But that won’t happen until tomorrow morning at the earliest, so go home. I’m sure some dust has accumulated that needs your urgent attention.”
    Monk couldn’t argue with that, nor could he possibly ignore the notion of dust piling up at his home once the idea had been planted in his head, which, of course, was exactly why Stottlemeyer mentioned it.
    “You have to promise me one thing,” Monk