Cherry Picked is the sixth episode of Season 5 of The Mentalist.
Summary[]
The team investigates the kidnapping of a couple that may be the victims of mistaken identity, while Jane continues his investigation into Lorelei's whereabouts.
Recap[]
Jane is first seen questioning a prisoner transport vehicle driver about Lorelei. She claims not to know her and, when Jane checks her pulse, he finds she is telling the truth. He allows her to leave and asks the next driver to come in when he gets a call from Lisbon.
He arrives at the crime scene at River Park. The victim is a community security guard called Casey Boris who had been shot. Jane seems to have nothing to say about the body but, when Lisbon and Jane question the neighbors, he notices a guy who is deeply engrossed in his cell phone. Jane wonders what is hooking him since all the other neighbors are trying to help. The man's name is Isaac Goodwin; he isn't from the neighborhood but his brother and sister-in-law are. They are currently out of town and he claims to have been collecting their mail. Jane cold reads him as a hedge fund manager and someone who wouldn't do favors for anyone unless there is something in it for him.
Jane is suspicious and decides to check out on Isaac's brother's house. There are signs of a struggle but Isaac claims it was the movers. Jane then enters the kitchen and finds wine glasses and two plates in the sink as well as pizza on the counter. He concludes that there had been someone else in this house besides Isaac. Just then, the phone rings and Jane tries to pick up. Isaac does not want him to and admits that there is indeed something bothering him: his brother Marcus and sister-in-law Pella were kidnapped and the kidnapper didn't want the police involved.
Isaac gets the phone and picks up but finds that Jane was the one calling, tricking him. Lisbon informs Cho and Rigsby about their current situation. It seems like that the security guard tried to intervene during the abduction and was shot. Back in the house, Isaac tells them that he is Marcus's financial minister and that the ransom demand of 5 million dollars was sent to him by e-mail. He is hesitant to pay the ransom.
Jane listens to some music from a player he found the house but an irritated Isaac shuts it down. Lisbon asks him for his cell phone but he still insists on not having the cops involved so he goes into a room and locks himself in, saying he will call his lawyer. Lisbon tries to get him out, even threatening to break the door but she is interrupted by Brenda Shettrick. She tells Lisbon that the Goodwin case should be handled carefully since Marcus is a valuable asset to the Pentagon and they could be killed in the media, if Lisbon does not comply. She threatens to call Bertram, what makes Lisbon give in.
Jane looks around the house and he finds a bowl that belongs to a dog called Howard. He asks Grace whether she's seen one but she says she hasn't. He goes searching for the dog and finds him outside the house with a neighbor who tells him that Howard usually does not leave the property. He also tells Jane that the gate has a funny latch and that it is hard to handle unless someone is used to it. Jane asks the neighbor to look after Howard.
Jane goes back into the house and turns on a music player. He realizes something and goes to Lisbon who is still trying to get Isaac out of the room. Jane knocks on the door and tells him that Pella and Marcus weren't kidnapped. Just then, both enter the room, confused and wondering what was going on.
Pella and Marcus tell them that they were out hiking. There wasn't any cell reception and their best friends, Sloan and Gary Dietz were staying at their house. Jane figured it out because of the gate and the pizza and the wine. Just then, they get a video call from the kidnapper. He is angry that the cops are involved now. Jane temporarily throws the kidnapper off guard by saying that he knows that it has always been planned to kidnap Sloan and Gary instead of Pella and Marcus because he would have dealt with Isaac who wouldn't part the money so easily. But on the other hand, Marcus is the nice guy who would be guilt ridden if he did not pay the money. Jane offers him a ransom of 3 million dollars and the kidnapper hangs up. Despite the others' worry, Jane is sure that he will call back.
The kidnapper does call back and offers 4 million dollars. Marcus accepts and asks his brother to get the money together, but Jane realizes that Isaac doesn't have the money. Isaac confesses that he put the money into the market and suggest that they liquidate some assets to get the money.
In the meantime, Cho and Rigsby track down a white van they found on a camera footage three blocks away from the Goodwin mansion. It did not have a license plate.
Jane goes back to the CBI and questions the next driver. His name is Walter DeMunn and claims that he had never seen Lorelei before but, judging from his body language and his reactions, Jane knows that he is lying. Angrily, Walter leaves before Jane can ask any more questions.
Cho and Rigsby find a van that matches the footage and sees that it is a reported stolen van. They find the woman who reported it stolen. The agents see an expensive television in her living room and they conclude that there was something wrong with her statement. She admits that the car was not stolen but sold; it had still been under her name and she didn't know what the man would do with they van. She said the man had given her extra money. They take her in to see a sketch artist.
In the office, the kidnapper calls again and Jane demands that he release a hostage or else he wouldn't get one dime. He hangs up before the kidnapper can answer. Some time later, Sloan calls; she's been released and is taken to the CBI headquarters. She doesn't remember the kidnapper's face or where they were kept, disappointed that she could not help. She asks Isaac to help arrange the money since he is still hesitant. He gives in.
The kidnappers calls and wants Sloan to be the one to take the money to the named location.
Lisbon notices that Jane found out something about the driver and wants him to inform her about his progress, but he leaves without telling her anything. Later, Jane is seen breaking into Walter's house. He looks around and goes through Walter's belongings.
Rigsby drops Sloan off to her place. Once he is gone, she takes out a cell phone and calls the kidnapper. He is her accomplice in the kidnapping, but the guy seems nervous. He is worried since they killed the security guard, unplanned and he did not expect to release her so early. She tells him that everything will be fine and asks him to kill Gary. Sloan asks to speak to Gary one last time. She tells Gary that he wasted the last ten years of her life dragging her down. She bids him goodbye and hangs up.
The next day, the team wires her and sends her to the location, outside a mall. Rigsby and Cho wait close by. In the mall parking lot, Jane makes Lisbon act as if she found the kidnapper. She pretends to be shot and Rigsby and Cho leave Sloan to "help" Lisbon. Sloan listens to the whole commotion through the earpiece and, once Cho and Rigsby leave, she leaves with the money.
She goes to the basement of the mall and Grace tries to track her. Sloan walks into a dead zone and Grace loses sight of her. Cops enter the mall without noticing Sloan, who walks out of the mall carrying a baby carriage and wearing a black wig. Cho and Rigsby find her clothes and a cell phone with only one number. They trace it back to the kidnapper, find him in the storage basement and force him to tell them where Gary is. He gives in and is arrested.
Sloan is at a hotel, hiding out but she hears a noise outside her door. Cops, led by Cho, break down her door and arrest her. Sloan asks how they knew where she was and Cho reveals a tracking device hidden between a roll of money.
Gary is brought home safely. Lisbon tells Brenda that Jane realized that the kidnapper hung up the first time to discuss the negotiation with the mastermind who had to know the Goodwins so well. Whoever was released, was the mastermind of the operation.
Jane waits for Walter at his house. Walter wants him to leave but Jane pours them a drink and asks him to sit down. He tells him that he knows that Walter raped an inmate and that the FBI used that inside information to exert leverage on him, blackmailing him to take Lorelei away. Walter is shocked that Jane found out and confesses that he was contacted by an agent. Walter tells Jane that the agent called himself Agent Nemo. Walter says that he is willing to tell him where he took Lorelei.
Some time later, Jane walks out of Walter’s house. The police arrive outside and Jane tells them to arrest Walter before he gets into his car and leaves.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Simon Baker as Patrick Jane
- Robin Tunney as Teresa Lisbon
- Tim Kang as Kimball Cho
- Owain Yeoman as Wayne Rigsby
- Amanda Righetti as Grace Van Pelt
Recurring Cast[]
Guest Cast[]
- Neil Hopkins as Isaac Goodwin
- Brooke Langton as Pella Goodwin
- Anne Dudek as Sloan Dietz
- Wes Chatham as Vince
- Michael Shamus Wiles as Walter DeMunn
- J.R. Cacia as Marcus Goodwin
- Skye P. Marshall as Sharice
- Michael Petrone as Gary Dietz
- Kimleigh Smith as Mindy Fernandez
- Holly Kaplan as Shirley Jenkins
- F. William Parker as Guy Perotti