The Mentalist 1X4: Ladies in Red

So Patrick is up to his old tricks and as basically solved the case before we've even started. But, as usual, he sets up a huge elaborate plot to get the evidence needed to convict. And, as usual, it's super fun to watch.

We've got this 'rich' guy (or, previously rich guy, I guess) who was tortured, but the body disappeared. As soon as Patrick enters the room, he realizes that the bookcase is actually the door to the panic room and once he figures out the code (hiding in plain sight), they find him dead inside.

His widow is shady from the start. She seems much more concerned about how he left her broke than the fact that he's dead. But, she has an alibi for the night of the murder. She went to see a play (movie? show?) about a wolf with her daughter and they've got ticket stubs. (I mean, if you just asked the kid 'How was the movie with your mom? The kid could have said, 'They nanny brought me, and this would have all been over.') But later, when Patrick asks her a questions about the show, she answers incorrectly.

CBI is busy following the money trail and it leads them to boat. When they get on, they see it's been torn apart. And some girl pulls a gun on them. But, once she realizes they're the police, she puts it down and she gets dragged in for questions. Turns out, she was the dead guy's fiancé and they were planning to run away with the daughter. She's very forthcoming and doesn't seem like she's holding anything back. She knew he was in financial trouble so he stole 10 million dollars and they were all going to disappear together. But, the money is missing. So she (and the wife) have been busy trying to find it.

So, we set up a scenario where the daughter is kidnapped and leave a ransom note. The fiancé takes the bait and meets up with Patrick who produces a bunch of fake diamonds. But, she's screaming about how they are not real and she needs the money to get Julie back. Meanwhile, they tell both of them that the lawyer was awake and ready to talk (he was holding the child) when they shot at him (at least I think that's what happened). The wife runs home to try to find the money (diamonds?) while the fiancé rushes over to make sure that Julie is okay.

That seals the deal for Patrick, who meets back up with the wife at her house, while she still looking for the money. And she tells him she'll confess if he just tells her where the damn diamonds are. And they (like the password to the safe room) were hiding in plain sight. He'd used real diamonds to the make the chandelier in his daughter's bedroom. And the wife gets arrests and (hopefully) the fiancé and Julie live happily ever after. She really seemed to love that kid.