Flame Red

Patrick and the team investigate a series of fires that have killed National Guard members. Read the BeeSight recap and review to find out what happened on the tenth episode of the first season of CBS's The Mentalist and join in the discussion.

BeeCap

Patrick reads Teresa's mind. Cho then walks up and tells them that they need to investigate a case. The team heads out to an arson scene that left a National Guard member named Rich Garcia dead. Patrick notices the local officer, Chief Pillar, had been crying and asks if he served with the victim. Chief Piller admits that he was crying and he did serve with Garcia in the Guard. He then asks the team if they will be able to find out what happened. Wayne says that the fire was definitely arson and the victim was murdered. The detectives say that arsonists like to stick around to watch. Teresa asks Patrick what he thinks, but he has disappeared into the field. Patrick is hiding behind a scarecrow and says that the arsonist was hiding there.

Wayne tells the crew that it looks like rocket fuel was used as the accelerant. Teresa instructs Wayne and Cho to talk to the gas station owner while he and Jane talk to the widow. Mrs. Garcia offers the detectives food. Patrick says yes, but Teresa says no. They are then introduced to Ben and are told that he is helping Mrs.Garcia with the insurance claims. Chief Piller grabs Mrs. Garcia's hand briefly, then leaves.

Patrick walks around the house and pockets some of the treats displayed on the table. He looks at the photos on the wall, then finds a girl in the kitchen. He asks if she is Maddie and she says yes. Patrick offers his condolences for her dad's death. Patrick asks her to help him find out who killed her father. He asks why there aren't any pictures of her father in his National Guard uniform. She says that they took them down because he didn't want to talk about his time over there. Patrick asks why she is so angry at her mom. Maddie says she's not and her mom will be fine without her.

Mrs. Garcia tells Teresa that she heard a strange noise and saw a light the night her husband died. She later realized the garage was on fire and the noise was her husband screaming. A boy named Tommy asks Mrs. Garcia what he can do. She tells Teresa that Tommy is challenged, but helps out around the house. Maddie overhears and yells at her mom for never telling the truth. Patrick tells Mrs. Garcia that Maddie is just upset because she thinks her lover is responsible for her dad's death. Mrs. Garcia becomes upset. Patrick offers the possibility that she and Piller did the job together, but Mrs. Garcia says no. Patrick then suggests that Piller did it alone. Mrs. Garcia explains that when her husband came back from the war, he closed her out. She admits that she had an affair, but says that Pillar would have never killed her husband.

Wayne and Grace talk to the man at the garage. He asks if they think it's murder and they say yes. He then tells them that another man named Dave Martin died the same way three years ago. He says that Dave was also in the guard and he's surprised that the Chief never mentioned him.

The detectives then get a call and find Chief Pillar's house on fire. Wayne runs into the burning building and pulls out a body. Afterward, Grace tends to Wayne's injuries. Teresa then walk in and tell Wayne that they found tranquilizers in Pillar's body, the same was found in Garcia. Cho enters and says that the Pillar arson details match the other two incidents.

Cho asks Mrs. Garcia why she didn't tell them about the prior arson. Mrs. Garcia says that the death was an accident. Cho asks if there was a connection between Dave Martin and her husband. Mrs. Garcia says that her husband and Dave were in business together along with Chief Pillar and Ben, but it failed. She says that they all owned a piece of land that they hoped to turn into an orchard, but when they were unsuccessful, they left the land with Tommy as the current caretaker. Cho asks if Ben is the only partner left standing and Mrs. Garcia says yes.

Patrick and Teresa go to Tommy's house. Teresa sees pictures of him and Dave and Patrick notices a copy of Moby Dick along with children's books. Tommy says that he was in the hospital when Dave was killed. Teresa then goes to find Patrick who is walking through the property. Patrick discovers a secret garden which is fueled by an underground aquifer. Tommy asks if they like it then asks them not to tell or he will be asked to move out.

RSS - Sign up for BeeSight newsletters, recap updates feeds for The Mentalist and more!