Trama

When a ringmaster is murdered by an acrobat in a crowded restaurant, Monk suspects his ex wife is responsible. But with her foot broken and in a cast, how could she have done it?

When a sarcastic and unpopular ringmaster is murdered by an acrobat wearing a face mask and a Ninja-like costume, Stottlemeyer suspects an animal trainer who not only has a motive (he's the former lover of the ringmaster's dinner date) but also owns the murder weapon. Monk, however, suspects the ringmaster's ex-wife, a trapeze artist billed as "the Queen of the Sky" who is also a sharpshooter. Unfortunately for Monk's theory, the trapeze artist, Natasia Lovara, has a broken foot, confirmed by X-rays. The mystery, as in "Billionaire Mugger" and "Dale the Whale," is not who did it but how it was done. Meanwhile, the everythingaphobic Monk alienates Sharona by telling her that her fear of elephants is irrational and advising her to "suck it up." Only when the elephant actually crushes its trainer's head in front of both Monk and Sharona does he begin to empathize with her and attempt to offer her the sort of comfort and understanding that she routinely offers him. Having been informed by a reliable authority that the chances of the elephant turning on its trainer are a thousand to one, Monk realizes that the trainer's death is not an accident but murder and that solving the second case will solve the first as well.—WyattJones

An arrogant man is having dinner with his date when a masked acrobat arrives at the restaurant and kills him with one shot in the heart. Stottlemeyer, Randall, Monk and Sharona are investigating the crime scene and soon they learn that the victim is Sergei Cluvarias, the unpopular ringmaster of the Dratch and Denby Traveling Circus. Stottlemeyer suspects of the animal trainer Nikolai Petroff, since he has the weapon of the same caliber that killed Sergei, is an acrobat apprentice and was the lover of Sergei's date Ariana Dakkar. However, Monk believes that Sergei's ex-wife Natasha Lovara, who is a skilled trapeze acrobat and shooter, is the killer. But the problem is that Natasha has a broken feet confirmed by X-rays. Meanwhile, Sharona has a trauma with elephants and Monk tells her that her fear is irrational, and she should "suck it up!". Sharona feels offended by Monk and is estranged to him. When the elephant's trainer Edgar Heinz is murdered by his elephant, Monk analyzes the odds and concludes Natasha has killed him. But how to prove both murderers?—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil