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Ladies in Red

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"Ladies in Red" is the fourth episode of season one of The Mentalist. It aired on October 21st, 2008 in the US and April 16th, 2009 in the UK.

Recap[]

The California Bureau of Investigation team (and Jane) are called to the palatial home of Jason Sands, a wealthy political contributor who has been missing since the night before. Sands' wife and daughter returned home the night before to find the home empty and the office in disarray.

The indignant (and sure to be wrong) local inspector assumes there will be a ransom demand made soon and doesn't even know why CBI is there. Has she even seen the show before?

Immediately Jane gets a handle on the scene: He tells her Sands is still there, that he was tortured in one of the overturned chairs and made to punch in numbers on a remote password device. Looking at a painting of several yachts, he enters numbers from their sails and voila! the grandfather clock slides back and we find the body of Sands on the floor.

The whole gang attends Sands' funeral, paying close attention to the widow, Jennifer, and her conversations with her husband's lawyer, Michael Bennett. We learn that Sands bled to death trapped in his panic room, the result of wounds caused by pliers and lit cigars. Jennifer and her daughter's alibi is that they attended a performance of "Peter and the Wolf" that night for which they have stubs. Watching their conversation, Jane thinks either Jennifer is scared of Bennett or is being reassured by him about something which worries her. He's not sure which.

Jane and Cho discuss with Rigsby his obvious feelings for Van Pelt, and Jane thinks all one needs to do to seduce a woman is show her "love and affection." Jane bets Rigsby $100 that he can seduce any woman at the funeral and Rigsby of course picks Jennifer. Jane immediately goes to Jennifer, first telling her how beautiful she is, which she tells him is "inappropriate." When the lawyer steps over, Jane snaps for Bennett to back off, turning back to Jennifer to say he's not sure what kind of "hold" Bennett has over her or what type of trouble she's in, but if she calls him he will help. Several men walk over and Cho and Rigsby have to pull Jane away. Jane, of course, likes how this has gone.

Back at the CBI office, Lisbon and Jane are chewed out by Minelli, who tells them Jennifer has filed a complaint with the attorney general. After basically saying he puts up with Jane because he closes so many cases, Minelli's cell rings with word from the AG's office that Jennifer will drop the charges if Jane apologizes in person at her house.

At the Sands' house, Jane starts by playing dolls with Julie, the young daughter. Jane and Jennifer sit together and she tells him that she does need help, that Bennett had told her at the service that her husband's business was a sham and that Sands had left them broke. Jennifer tells Jane she will have to sell the house and her husband is being investigated by the IRS and SEC. But Jennifer is also convinced Sands would have left her a nest egg, and wants Jane to help find it.

Lisbon and Cho brief the rest of the group that, yes, Sands' business had gone under in the past five years, complete with indictments on the horizon. But over the last year he had moved $10 million in cash, stocks and bonds into his personal accounts, and just a few weeks earlier the money went missing.

Lisbon meets with Bennett, who tells her he only handled Sands' personal affairs and had no idea his businesses were in such bad shape. A few week back Sands' accountants told Bennett he had converted the $10 million into cash, and all Sands would tell him was that he has a surprise for Jennifer. Bennett said he now thinks Sands was preparing to flee his legal troubles.

At the office Van Pelt informs Lisbon that Sands money over the past few years came from selling $55+ million of copy paper to a company called "Happy Landings Entertainment" in Oakland. The company Sands used to sell paper to Happy Landings is based in Sausalito Bay, the only business he kept under a separate corporate address. Van Pelt still doesnt know who owns Happy Landings.

The gang (sans Van Pelt) goes to the address for Sands' paper supply company, and find themselves at the Sausalito Marino docks. They board a luxury boat called 'Princess,' finding it in total disarray. Armed only with his mentalism, Jane backs right into a revolver-wielding young woman. She lowers the gun when shown badges by the others, and proceeds to tell them she is Jason Sands' fiancée.

The Eastern European-accented woman, Adrianna, tells Lisbon and Jane she is a "dancer and model" who has been with Sands for two years. Adrianna reveals they were engaged to be married and that Jennifer knew Sands was leaving her. She adds that she had been searching the boat for the $10 million in diamonds Sands had bought a month ago for the two of them to run away with. She adds that if Sands hadn't been killed, she, Julie and Sands would already be gone. In exchange for dropping the burglary charge Adrianna gives the name of the guys she says killed Sands, two nightclub owners, Dieter and Carter, from Oakland who had been having Sands launder their drug and prostitution money.

Cho pulls the men's sheets, telling Lisbon they began as legitimate nightclub and hotel owners but eventually drugs and prostitution became their core business. The two have no known assets and are not attached to an address. Jane corners Adrianna before she leaves, asking about her relationship with Julie and if she was really okay with taking the girl away from her mother. Adrianna tell him she loves Julie and that Jennifer is a cold mother who doesn't really care for her daughter. Adrianna asks Jane if he thinks Jennifer might have the diamonds.

As Jane goes to speak with Jennifer, Cho finds out that Dieter has put a car and house in his grandmother's name. Jane asks an matter-of-fact question about "Peter and the Wolf" and proceeds to tell Jennifer about both the $10 million and Adrianna. An upset Jennifer tells Jane "I need someone to hold me, please" but Jane balks at the suggestion.

Rigsby and Van Pelt grab Carter and Dieter and bring them in for questioning. Dieter tells Cho said that if Sands had owned them money they would have it and he would not be dead: "Somebody got there before us." Dieter suggests they look into Adrianna, a former employee he calls a "mercenary bitch" that made Sands' life hell. Lisbon tells Minelli that Carter has already given them a similar story.

Lisbon tells Minelli they can hold the two as long as it takes and that she doesn't like Adrianna for the murder. Just then Jane gets a call from Jennifer, distraught that Julie is gone. We cut to her end of the line and a note propped up against a pillow: "You know what we want. Tell the police and she dies. Wait for our call."

We're next at the Sands' residence. With Jane quietly studying, Jennifer pleads for Lisbon and the local inspector from the opening scene to bring back her child. Jennifer tells them she assumes the kidnappers are looking for the diamonds but doesn't know why they would think she has it.

Back at CBI the consensus is that Dieter and Carter don't have the kind of muscle to pull off such a caper while incarcerated. Van Pelt has logged into Jennifer's cell phone and when the kidnapper IMs "I have your daughter, do you have what I want?" Jane tells them to say yes and that he will bring it to them, claiming "I know where the money is."

We see Jane sitting along in a SUV; the idea for him to acquire the phone number of the kidnappers. While Jane is still discussing the game plan, Adrianna hops into the car and sticks a gun in his face. She says she is not the kidnapper, but that she has to do this because "I don't want Julie to die." Adrianna tells Jane she is supposed to get the diamonds and call a number so Julie will be released. Using a bag of fake diamonds and some serious mentalism, Jane gets both the gun and phone from Adrianna and forwards the number to CBI, where they trace it to an apartment. Adrianna goes on to tell Jane that she was sent pictures of a bound Julie on her phone and was told if she didn't get "Jason's money", Julie would die.

Van Pelt, Rigbsby and Cho bust into the apartment to find Bennett with a gun drawn and a very not-tied-up Julie coming down the stairs. We then see the outside of the building and hear several shots.

After the break were at a hospital, Minelli arrives as Lisbon tells him Bennett "is our man," that he killed Sands for the money and when he didn't get it kidnapped Julie for the same purpose. Whether Jennifer or Adrianna is the accomplice is still up for grabs. Lisbon tells Minelli that there is little chance Bennett will make it (how convenient) and that Jane has a plan worked out to get a confession.

Jennifer and Adrianna are both in the hospital waiting room, and we hear that Julie is fine. After the two women exchange unpleasantries, Cho asks if either of them knows a Wendy who, in his words, would be worth knowing. Adrianna asks if this person has the diamonds, to which Jennifer responds "diamonds?". Van Pelt then says Bennett is expected to regain consciousness soon, in case either had anything to pass along to him.

Cho and Van Pelt leave the area, low-fiving each other in celebration of their awesome acting job. Jane had recommended they wait a moment to let scene play out, but when Rigsby walks back to the room, they find neither woman in sight. Lisbon and Cho sprint to Julie's room, finding Adrianna kneeling bedside and comforting the little girl. It's the wife after all.

We cut to the Sands' home, where Jennifer runs up the stairs and begins frantically rummaging through Julie's stuff. Of course Jane walks right behind her tell her the jig is up, that Bennett has told them everything. Jennifer is impressed that the police played her and Adrianna against one another, and asks whether the diamonds exist. After Jennifer makes one more failed attempt to seduce Jane, he tells her that he knew she killed her husband when she didn't answer his question about "Peter and the Wolf" correctly. The maid took Julie to the play while Jennifer stayed home with Bennett and tortured Sands in an attempt to get his "running-away" money.

Given that this is the point at which TV killers wolf-out, Jennifer gets angry and tells Jane she wasn't about to allow Sands to run away with her daughter and that "dirty whore." Jennifer couldn't stand Julie preferring Adrianna to her. Since Jennifer can't take it anymore, Jane tells her the diamonds are in the chandelier above them, and we flash back to Julie telling Jane earlier that her father had made the room for her.

The show ends with Jane telling the gang he suspected Jennifer from the beginning, based on how good she looked at the funeral: "No wife should glow at her husband's funeral." Rigsby blows yet another chance to talk to Van Pelt and the closing credits roll.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Recurring Cast[]

Guest Cast[]

Season 1 Episodes
Pilot  · Red Hair and Silver Tape  · Red Tide  · Ladies in Red  · Redwood  · Red Handed  · Seeing Red  · The Thin Red Line  · Flame Red  · Red Brick and Ivy  · Red John's Friends  · Red Rum  · Paint It Red  · Crimson Casanova  · Scarlett Fever  · Bloodshot  · Carnelian, Inc.  · Russet Potatoes  · A Dozen Red Roses  · Red Sauce  · Miss Red  · Blood Brothers  · Red John's Footsteps
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