Monk and Natalie have finally settled into a new office routine. Now they just need to work things out with their neighbours - a print shop run by hippies whose music leaks through the walls, driving Monk nuts. But the detectives soon have a more serious conflict to deal with: Captain Stottlemeyer's new lieutenant, A.J. Cartledge - a man of limited skills whom Monk finds insufferable. Even the presence of Lieutenant Cartledge won't keep Monk and Natalie from attending the funeral of Judge Oberlin, and it's a good thing as it seems she was murdered!