[Stottlemeyer and Disher fill Monk and Natalie in on the finger]
We just got your call. You found a body?
Not quite. There is a two year old boy named Tommy Graser-
Uh, not two years. 22 months. Not quite two.
Whatever. Anyway, he was, um, separated from his mother-
No, uh, his guardian. She's not actually his mother. She, uh, runs a foster home. For the record.
For the record, stand over there. [Randy walks a short distance away] Anyway, he was in the playground, and he disappeared for about ten minutes-
Uh 14 minutes. [Under Stottlemeyer's watchful glare, Randy takes a few steps back]
When we found him, the little boy had a severed human finger.
A pinkie. It was still bleeding, freshly severed, uh, probably about four hours ago.
Yeah about four hours ago.
[Monk, Natalie, Stottlemeyer and Disher are at the crime lab examining the finger]
FTForensic Technician
Are you ready?
FTForensic Technician
It is a left pinkie, belonging to a male Caucasian, about 25 years old. So far, there's no match on the fingerprint. The digit was severed earlier today, we figure around 8:00 AM, with some kind of gardening instrument, like pruning shears.
[disgusted] He cut up a whole body with pruning shears?
Nope, maybe they just cut off the fingers, that way when they dump the body later, there'll be no prints.
[Monk uses a set of tongs to grab the finger and holds it parallel to his left hand]
FTForensic Technician
That's true, we think he might have played guitar. [Monk holds the finger at an angle to approximate where a guitar-player would place it]
No, not guitar. It's at the wrong angle: he played the violin. [finds some sticky stuff on the finger] There's some residue. It's sticky.
Tree sap. Lumberjack. Missing nine-fingered lumberjack. [starts writing in his notepad]
Should I put a list together?
Absolutely! Make sure you don't run out of paper.
FTForensic Technician
It's not tree sap. We already ran it; the main component is abietic acid.
Abietic acid? It's violin rosin.
I think that's pretty expensive rosin. It's for professionals.
So, professional - or at least, very serious - violinist, 25 years of age, who is missing.
