Adrian Monk: I know what they've been after. Look.
Captain Stottlemeyer: The moonrock?
Adrian Monk: It's the most valuable rock in the world. It's more valuable than any diamond. A rock half this size was sold in Japan for $2 million.
Captain Stottlemeyer: Okay.
Adrian Monk: Well, I knew that I had seen that rock before somewhere. It was in Julie Teeger's aquarium. It was right in front of us the whole time. Here's what happened. There's a tour guide at the museum named Peck. Lyle Peck. Last weekend, he stole the moonrock. It was probably Sunday night after they closed. He waited until the guards were distracted or between shifts. Peck has worked there for years. He's practically a fixture, so he definitely knew the routine.
Captain Stottlemeyer: Why didn't the museum report it?
Adrian Monk: The museum never missed it. They didn't know it was stolen. They still don't. Peck replaced it with an exact duplicate.
Captain Stottlemeyer: Wait, you mean this is just a regular rock? Son of a bitch, I stood in line for half an hour just to touch this stupid thing.
Adrian Monk: Right. But Peck had a problem. He still had to get the moonrock out of the building. They were searching everybody. Even the employees. So since there was no way for him to get it through security, he had to improvise. He hid the rock in the gift shop. Inside one of those aquarium kits. Then he marked the box. He probably planned to have his accomplice, Brian Lemmon, pick it up the next morning.
Captain Stottlemeyer: But the girl got there first.
Adrian Monk: Exactly, Julie Teeger bought it that morning and took it home. The next day Peck tried to steal it, posing as a meter reader. When that didn't work, Brian Lemmon broke in. But he didn't count on Natalie waking up or that pair of scissors. [Stottlemeyer chuckles] What?
Captain Stottlemeyer: You're back.