The Mentalist
Northeast SacramentoJane stares at the moon at a crime scene. The victim is Eleanor Ortega, she was shot in the chest. Jane announces she's a musician with calluses on her hands.
He finds a hydrangea petal.Cho calls someone for gang intel and a young wannabe gang banger bumps into him. Cho sends him on his way.Jane grows impatient as Lisbon tries to talk to the gathered onlookers. He cuts to the chase, offering $100 for info on the victim. When everyone raises their hand, he tells them it's only $1. Everyone drops their hands. Jane points out the man who never raised his, telling Lisbon his info is so valuable not even $100 can buy it.
The man in the plaid shirt and hat runs off. Cho runs to his SUV to give chase, but realizes his keys are gone. The young punk drives off in his ride having lifted his keys.Rigsby and Van Pelt talk to Eleanor's mom, who says she was first chair violin. Her mom is tidying up her convenience store. Eleanor was excited about a private solo performance she had recently given. She recently dated a gang banger named Orlando Iglesias. She dumped him and he wouldn't stop calling. They had to get a restraining order.Her mom finally loses it, crying in the aisle.Back at CBI, Rigbsy confirms Eleanor played a private event with a Stradivarius. Lisbon looks at Iglesias' file and recognizes him as the guy who ran from the crime scene.Officer Bellar from Sacramento PD brings the car thief by. His mother recently died and his father is in jail. Child services can't get him for 48 hours. Lisbon OK'ed Cho supervising him.
Anthony puts on a sweet face and calls Cho "sir" and insists he wasn't performing a gang initiation.
Cho isn't buying the angel routine.
"Whatever, punk," Anthony says.
"That's more like it," says Cho.Jane visits the concert hall and is greeted by Kieran Caruthers, the oboist. Jane notices Eleanor's concert master bookmark is very expensive. Jane announces he's looking for a killer. He thinks such driven people are a little nutty.There's a hobnob with donors scheduled for tomorrow. The musicians wanted to postpone but the Maestro Vincent Manhieser didn't agree. "I wouldn't say he's a tyrant, he's just -- not nice," Kieran explains.Vincent comes in and addresses the troops. He promotes Constance to concert master while mocking her leadership abilities. He gives Ariel second chair in recognition of her "keen lust for advancement."
They begin rehearsal.Cho brings Anthony a burger. He announces he's a vegetarian. Cho takes out the burger and throws it in the trash. Anthony tosses it on the floor.
Rigsby informs him Cho used to be in a gang, the Playboys. Anthony says his dad Lawrence was in the South Side Mafia. Cho says he never heard of him.Van Pelt gets up for coffee and leaves her cell phone on her desk. Anthony swipes it. He sends Rigsby a text. Rigsby finds Van Pelt and asks about the "I want you baby, come to me" text.They realize Anthony is gone.
Cho heads him off.Back up in CBI, Cho handcuffs Anthony to a cabinet. Anthony says Orlando isn't in the Hermanos gang any more and joined the Local Pimps. He tells them where to find the gang. Since the gang info is six months old, Cho and Van Pelt decide to check both locations out.During rehearsals, the Maestro stops them and rips people individually. Jane says he's there about a murder. He walks over to the maestro, looks him in the eye and asks him why he killed Eleanor. He calls him a cold-blooded murderer.The maestro protests. Jane laughs it off but finishes off his point with a flourish on the timpanis.Waiting for Orlando, Cho is irritated thinking Anthony misled them. They see Orlando pull up.Lisbon interrogates him. He says he respected her love of music. He says her mother made her take out the restraining order. He says he only wanted good for her.Van Pelt confirms his story about the restraining order. She also learns Eleanor had fired her mother as her manager and they weren't speaking.Cho brings Anthony into an interrogation room to sleep for the night. Anthony is upset, saying he needs to go. He makes a break for it, Cho grabs him as he fights to get free and finally fights back tears.
Cho asks what it's really about.
Anthony says his dad was arrested for robbing a liquor store, but he didn't do it. He says a guy named Jaden can provide an alibi, but he has to find him. He stole a car to join Jaden's gang so they'd tell him where he is.Cho listens and believes him.Van Pelt and Jane talk to her mother Isabel. She says Eleanor came up to her store the night she was killed, wanting to make up, but she didn't want to. Jane asks if Eleanor was into cats, or ancient pyramids in Egypt.Jane crashes the donor soiree at the concert hall. Jane calls out Kieran for liking Ariel. He tells Ariel, Constance and Kieran that Eleanor was dating someone from the orchestra. They guess. He leads them to think it was the maestro. Then he ads that he was abusing her sexually. He swears them to silence. Jane wanders away to let his little games unfold.Cho visits Anthony's dad Lawrence in prison. He says a store owner picked him out of a line-up. He says he gave up crime a year ago when Anthony's mom died. Cho asks why he hadn't left the South Side Mafia yet. He wouldn't take the DA's deal of two years because he didn't want Anthony to be in foster care.
Cho asks about Jaden.Lisbon arrives at the concert hall in time to hear the rumor, which now includes other abuse. Jane tells Lisbon his ruse is to ferret out the person who really had a thing for Eleanor. He has deduced that someone gave her the cat bookmark because it wasn't her taste. He thinks the person who really loved her will track down the maestro. Jane and Lisbon arrive upstairs in time to see Constance the new first violin attacking Vincent.At CBI, Constance admits to Eleanor that she loved her and told her a few weeks ago. She says Eleanor was really nice about it, but wasn't interested. Lisbon tries to get her riled up, asking if she has a temper. Lisbon reveals that the gun that killed Eleanor was in her trunk. Constance sputters that it's not hers. She politely asks for a lawyer.Lisbon tells Jane they're charging Constance. She waits for him to say she didn't do it. He obliges.
Lisbon asks for actual evidence.He asks if they noticed flower in Constance's car.Lisbon gets a visit from Osvaldo Ardiles from the DA's office. He's super peeved at Cho for getting involved in Anthony's dad's case and agreeing to track down his alibi witness.
Oscar wants Lawrence to flip on the two gang leaders.
Lisbon tells Cho they shouldn't get involved.Cho goes to find Anthony but a social worker has him on the elevator and is grabbing onto his collar. He refuses to turn him over. Anthony elbows the man in the gut to break free and Cho grabs him. Cho says he has to prosecute him for battery and takes Anthony away.Jane visits Ariel, who is now first chair. She felt sadness and relief when she got the news. She was thinking of leaving last week, but now she's in the top spot. Jane sees that she's pleased but feels guilty, which he thinks is understandable. He asks if there's a florist nearby.Cho waits outside a gang house in the hood until he hears someone call out to Jaden. Jaden runs and Cho makes a spectacular off-a-front-porch dive and tackles him. A giant man tries to stop them but Cho punches him swiftly in the nose and takes Jaden away.Jane brings Lisbon a hydrangea at the concert hall, but won't tell her why for fear of spoiling his fun.At CBI, Osvaldo from the DA's office tells Cho they're dropping charges against Lawrence. He doesn't buy the alibi buy they had to re-interview the store owner and his testimony got shaky.
Oscar says from now on his unit gets no help from the DA's office. He thinks in six months Lawrence will be back in jail. Cho thinks he's wrong, but we can see he has his doubts.At concert rehearsal, Jane has people bring in bouquets of hydrangeas and place them on the end of the stage. Kieran the oboist hits a sour note.Jane interrupts and says Kieran is feeling guilty because he killed Eleanor. Eleanor was carrying a bouquet of them that night and he took them, so seeing them again threw his concentration. He framed Constance. With the first and second chair violinist out of the way, the third got to move up. They tell Ariel that Kieran is obsessed with her. She's horrified and runs off. They stop Kieran.He explains that he followed Eleanor to her performance that night and shot her. He took the flowers because he didn't think she deserved them. He thinks Ariel was ten times the performer Eleanor was.Cho sees Anthony reunited with his dad. Cho tells Lawrence if he hasn't left the gang in a month, he'll know. He tells him not to screw up his chance. Anthony gives Rigsby a giant hug good-bye and runs off.
Rigsby finds that odd.
Cho tells him to check his pockets.Jane picks up the upright bass at the concert hall and starts an impromptu jazz session.
paranormal, murder