Karen Stottlemeyer (Glenne Headly), the wife of police captain Lance Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine), is seriously injured in a car accident caused by a sniper who may have been involved in a local labor dispute. Captain Stottlemeyer's ability to handle the case is compromised when he has a violent confrontation with union boss Harry Bolston (Geoff Pierson), so Monk (Tony Shalhoub) takes over the investigation. As it turns out, the solution to the case appears in the unlikely form of a stray dog that Sharona (Bitty Schram) has picked up at the scene of the shooting--but simply knowing that the dog's owner and the gunman are one and the same does not mean that Monk will be able to prove it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide