History Recap / MonkS7E16MrMonkFightsCityHall

* AttemptedHomewrecker: Eileen Hill had [[UnusualHiringPractices hired]] a pregnant woman while claiming to give her a drug test during the process, in order to [[BabyGambit show a positive pregnancy test]] to Paul Crawford so that he would leave his wife.

* UnusualHiringPractices: Monk finds out that Eileen Hill hired her secretary Maria Schechter by leaving flyers for the job at a Lamaze class (where they would be seen by pregnant women), and having the candidate who showed up give a urine sample, claiming it was for a drug test. It turns out the real purpose was to get a positive pregnancy test to show the man she was having an affair with, in order to convince him to leave his wife; instead, [[ADeadlyAffair the man murdered her]].

* UnusualHiringPractices: Monk finds out that Eileen Hill hired her secretary Maria Schechter by leaving flyers for the job at a Lamaze class (where they would be seen by pregnant women), and having the candidate who showed up give a urine sample, claiming it was for a drug test. [[spoiler:It turns out the real purpose was to get a positive pregnancy test to show the man she was having an affair with, in order to convince him to leave his wife; instead, [[ADeadlyAffair the man murdered her]].]]

* UnusualHiringPractices: Monk finds out that Eileen Hill hired her secretary Maria Schechter by leaving flyers for the job at a Lamaze class (where they would be seen by pregnant women), and having the candidate who showed up give a urine sample, claiming it was for a drug test. [[spoiler:It turns out the real purpose was to get a positive pregnancy test to show the man she was having an affair with, in order to convince him to leave his wife; in stead, [[ADeadlyAffair the man murdered her]].]]

* EnragedByIdiocy: Maria Schecter is so unyieldingly stupid that Monk compares talking to her torture.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: It never occurred to Hill that Paul might take drastic action to avoid her "pregnancy" coming to his wife.

* EnragedByIdiocy: Maria Schecter is so unyieldingly stupid, Monk says it is actually torture to talk to her.

* ItsAllAboutMe: Monk is at his worst in this episode. He's willing to go above and beyond to save the parking garage his wife was murdered in by claiming that there is some evidence in the parking garage he missed, even though tearing it down would provide for the environment and a park for citizens. His therapy session with Dr. Bell, however, confirms he's lying and admits he knows there is no new evidence. The truth is Monk just doesn't want to lose the parking garage because it was the last place she was alive. Worse is that he cares more about the vote to demolish the parking garage than Councilwoman Hill being killed and devotes most of his time trying to bribe her assistant Maria into helping him.

Maria is torn, but figures she can vote the way Hill wanted if she had access to the councilor's journal, which Monk states the police did not find anywhere like her office or apartment. When Maria asks if the police checked Hill's ''other'' apartment, it is revealed that the councilwoman had a love nest. There. Natalie finds a positive pregnancy test, which seems to mean that Hill was pregnant. Unfortunately, she's dead: her body turns up floating at the pier. However, when the autopsy on the councilwoman is performed, it is revealed that she was ''not'' pregnant. So what was a positive pregnancy test doing at the love nest?

So Hill wanted Paul to leave his wife, so she lied about being pregnant. Hill obtained a positive pregnancy test by hiring the incompetent Maria. By using Maria's drug test urine sample, Hill turned a pregnancy test positive, and used it to blackmail Paul into leaving his wife. So Paul strangled Hill with one of his ties, made by Chalmers of London, and then dumped her body at the pier, killing the tourists to avoid the risk that they saw him dump the body.

* GoldDigger: The reason Paul was so willing to kill Hill when he thought she was pregnant, He is married to the daughter of a billionaire, and knew if Hill went through with her BabyTrap, he'd lose access to all that money.