Trama

CBI investigate the murder of a man who was burned to death.

In rural Marquesa, National Guard veteran Rich Garcia is found burned in his garage, which is locked from the outside. Patrick makes widow Maddy admit an affair with fellow vet police chief Trey Piller. Mechanic Mitchell Reese tells fellow vet Dave martin died in a similar arson three years earlier. Next Wayne Rigsby saves Piller from the next fire. All were started with the same, tricky accelerant, found in vet Ben Machado's barn. Jane discovers the town's secret treasure, a murderous secret and how dangerous setting a trap can be before the killer is caught in the act.—Alex John

When there is an apparent arson case in the countryside of California, Patrick, Lisbon and her team investigate the case. Soon Rigsby finds that it was an arson case and the victim, Rich Garcia, was locked from the outside of his garage and burnt to death. Local Chief of Police Trey Piller was partner of the victim in the National Guard unit and Patrick discloses he was having an affair with the widow Maddy Garcia. When the house of Trey Piller is also burnt to the ground and he barely escapes with severe wounds. Their further investigation finds a valuable commodity and resource in the land of the victims.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Jane messes with Lisbon, getting her to imagine shapes and then project the images to the back of his mind. He guesses and she says he's wrong. But she's lying. He says that's just the gateway to really reading her mind. She blushes when she's glad he can't.

They get a call about a suspected arson. A burned out barn near a corn field. Jane guesses the victim, Rich Garcia, saved the police chief's life once. He's been crying and he doesn't seem like a man to weep over nothing and he's wearing a National Guard ring. Rigsby, with two years in an arson squad, says it's arson and murder because he finds part of the barn door, locked from the outside.

Jane finds where the killer watched from - a scarecrow.

Inside the house, they meet the widow Susan Garcia and Ben Machado, a real estate agent who was also in the national guard. Jane notices the police chef, Trey Piller, reaching for the widow's hand and her pulling away.

Jane finds the victim's teenage daughter Maddy in the kitchen. She's dark and angry but he tells her she'll get used to it. He wants to know why there are no pictures of her dad and his buddies around the house. She says he took them all down. He asks why she's angry with her mom, which she must be or she'd be with her right now. She says she thinks her mom will get over the death.

A young man named Tommy comes in with corn chips and Susan Garcia explains that he's "challenged." Maddy corrects that he's "retarded" and asks why everything is a lie with her mother. When Maddy leaves, Jane asks Susan if she knows why her daughter is so angry. He says it's because she suspects her mother's lover killed her father. Susan sputters denials, but Jane doesn't buy it. He goes on to suggest she might have killed her husband with her lover, Trey Piller. She denies it. He suggests that maybe Piller did it on his own. She says they were best friends. Jane notes one best friend had an affair with the other's wife.

Susan says her husband was different when he came back. But she doesn't think Piller did it.

Rigsby and Van Pelt interview Rich's friend Mitchell Reece, the last man to see him alive. He says the fact he was murdered by arson is "weird." Three years ago, David Martin, also from same Guard regiment, was killed in a fire.

They race to a scene. Chief Piller's house is on fire. The fire department is on its way. Piller is inside. Rigsby rushes in and seconds later something comes crashing through the bay window, followed by Rigsby, slightly aflame and hauling Piller. Van Pelt puts him out.

In the hotel, Van Pelt rewraps Rigsby's arm. Piller is touch and go at the hospital. Rigsby is feeling OK, on some pretty sweet pain killers. Piller had sedatives in his system and the fire was set with sophistication.

Cho visits Susan, asking why she didn't mention David Martin's death. She said it was an accident, started by a cigarette, they had to bury his ashes. David was in business with Rich. They bought some land. Tommy Olds lives up there now as a caretaker. Ben Machado is the only partner still standing.

Jane and Lisbon visit Tommy in his trailer. He says he keeps an eye out. He has a picture of David Martin on his wall. He says he's the only one who never made fun of him. Jane finds a copy of Moby-Dick in the trailer. Tommy had a burst appendix when Martin died.

Jane explores the land and finds an area fenced off with a Mar Verde sign out front. There are lots of lush plants in the middle of an arid field. It's an aquifer, a source of ground water. Worth millions.

Still hopped up on pain meds, Rigsby tells Van Pelt there's something he's been meaning to say. He confesses his love and she responds by sticking her fingers in her ears and humming. She tells him there are rules and one of them would have to leave the unit and she's junior agent and... she looks over and he's out cold.

Cho and Van Pelt check on Machado, who greets them by firing on them. He stops when they ID themselves. Cho finds six jugs of the accelerant used in the fires in his barn.

Cho and Rigsby talk to Machado, who thinks someone is trying to kill him since he's the last owner left. Jane interrupts as Cho is asking who would benefit from the other three being dead. Jane has a guess: Dave Martin. Ben says he's dead. He's sounds awfully sure, which makes Jane think Ben had something to do with it. Jane says Dave went to them with great news about the land, but they wanted what he had. Jane says someone smart and determined is after him. Jane tells the team to let Machado go.

Lisbon doesn't like Jane giving orders and doesn't want to use Machado as bait for the murderer. Jane says justice dictates that Machado suffer, so bait seems about right. She lets Machado go, but says if he gets hurt, it's on Jane.

He pauses and then tells Lisbon that when he catches Red John he's going to cut him up into tiny pieces and make him suffer like he did to Jane's wife and child. Lisbon tells him if he tries to do harm to John when they catch him, she'll try to stop him. Jane is as easy and polite as always but unconcerned by the warning, calling her bourgeois in her law enforcement applications.

Cho and Rigsby watch Machado. Rigsby suggests maybe Mitchell Reece is Dave Martin. He had burn scars and might have been wearing a wig. He's the one who first mentioned David Martin and he owns a gas station. They leave Machado's.

As they yank on Mitchell's hair (it's real) at his station, Machado creeps out of his house with his rifle and inspects his barn. Once he's inside, the door is thrown shut behind him. He sees someone pouring liquid on him from above. He looks up and a man with a mask on holds a lighter over him and holds up the firing pin from Machado's rifle. He says he's the man Machado tried to kill. Machado guesses Dave Martin. The man sounds suspiciously like Patrick Jane.

He asks Machado why he didn't just ask for money if he needed it so badly. Machado says they begged him to leave, but he refused. The masked man reveals himself. It's Jane. With a tape recorder. He has about two seconds to be pleased with himself when Machado spies a nearby machete, explaining that he'll say he killed an intruder in his barn. Jane makes him pause by flicking his lighter and reminding him he's presumably doused in a highly flammable liquid when another growling voice comes from outside, calling for Machado and asking if he's ready to die. Jane has nothing to do with it. He peers through the barn slats in time to see the flaming object being thrown at the door.

The barn goes up quickly as Jane climbs up to safety, helping Machado.

Rigsby and Cho return to see them running around the back of the barn, safe. He asks where they were and Cho says they called it in, but Lisbon didn't know Jane was about to pull an idiotic stunt. No hard feelings. They re-arrest Machado and Rigsby sees someone lurking in the distance. He races after him as Jane catches his breath.

Cut to interrogation, where Cho is talking to Tommy. He would like some of his "super favorite" soda root beer. He says he doesn't like to burn things.

Observing him, Lisbon says all the evidence points to him but the fires were to sophisticated to be him. He's wearing velcro sneakers. She thinks he might have had a partner.

Jane wants a minute with him. He tells Tommy that being a fool gives him power, like a wizard's cloak of invisibility. He doesn't know what Jane's talking about but he likes wizards. Jane uses a Moby-Dick analogy, saying it's like when Ahab got the whale, but the "Pea Pod" went down anyway. Tommy corrects him: Pequod. Tommy pauses then tries to cover. He likes whales.

Jane says he should have known it was him. When he met Tommy at the wake, he was wearing a black t-shirt with a skull with devil horns. Something only an idiot or a brazen killer confident in his disguise would do. Jane tells Tommy to come out. He can see him.

Tommy settles back in his chair, his face relaxing and asks him, clearly, "What do you want to know?"

He explains he did the Tommy act when he was 18 after he got caught jacking a car. It protects him. He figured out what they'd done to Dave, his friend who never made fun of him. He says they deserve what they got. It was "redemptive."

Before Jane leaves, Tommy asks him to tell Maddy Garcia he's sorry for hurting her.

They break the news to Maddy and she yells, saying she'll set Tommy on fire if she ever sees him. Jane notes that Tommy killed her father out of revenge because her father killed a man. "Revenge is for fools and mad men," he tells her. She knows that, and it matters to her, Jane says. Then he asks mother and daughter to hug. They do so reluctantly. Scurrying out, he asks them to hold the pose. "It'll make Lisbon and me feel like we actually made a difference."

Outside, Lisbon says to Jane that it seems like the case made a difference to him, changing his mind about revenge. He says that was all nonsense and then he runs out into the rain.