Suspecting that her boss, Elliott D'Souza, has been murdered by playboy/publisher Dexter Larsen after withdrawing his financial backing for Larsen's Sapphire magazine, D'Souza's secretary hires Monk to investigate. After enlisting the help of the initially reluctant Stottlemeyer and Disher and convincing them that D'Souza's death was no accident despite his being alone in a room locked from the inside, Monk suddenly tries to withdraw from the case. The reason? Larsen has obtained and is threatening to publish nude photographs of Sharona, relics of her past as a struggling single mother in Atlantic City. When Sharona discovers the reason for Monk's strange behavior, her first reaction is shame and fear, but Benjy's response to her partial confession arms her with fierce determination to retrieve the photos and ""nail"" the murderer. Through the common bond of motherhood, she persuades the Sapphire Girl who had provided Dexter's alibi to confess the truth. Meanwhile, Monk puts together De