Chapter 12 – Jane's Idea
The pouring rain outside echoes the mood inside the team's temporary office, which has taken a definite hit after meeting with Sara's aunt and uncle. Even though it has been an hour since the couple left, their grief remains. The team is dreading returning to the motel where Sara died, and the thought that Red John could have murdered any one of them is enough to keep everyone on edge.
"I wonder who he'll kill tonight," Jane mutters to himself. Only Lisbon catches his words, and she gives him a reproachful look.
Jane is serious, though. The thought that he could wake up tomorrow to find one of his co-workers dead is making him feel slightly ill.
"We need a plan. A solid plan," Cho says. "All the evidence is pointing towards Haffner, but we need to prove it."
"We also need to be careful. Haffner is an expert in surveillance. If it's him, it would explain a lot about how Red John seems to know everything that we're planning. And how he got around the motel's security cameras," Lisbon reminds them.
"What about that girl that he sent to you? Hailey? Could you un-hypnotize her to make her remember him?" Rigsby suggests.
"First, I didn't hypnotize her, I just planted a suggestion for her to forget Red John. Second, he'd kill her if he thought we were even considering it." Jane might be desperate, but he isn't willing to sacrifice a child.
"Okay, so you didn't hypnotize her to forget, but you could hypnotize her to make her remember," Cho points out.
"It's too risky," Jane insists.
"What, because she's a child? What if he kills a child next anyways? He already killed Kaitlyn Perez," Cho counters.
Jane rubs his eyes in frustration. He sees Cho's point, but he can't do it. It would be a death sentence for the young girl. He would sacrifice himself, but he can't sacrifice a child.
But she isn't the only one who can identify Red John! The thought comes to Jane immediately.
"Jane? What is it?" Lisbon notices the exact moment that a shadow of life returns to his blue eyes.
"Rosalind Harker! She's in protective custody. We can play recordings of each of their voices. She'll be able to identify him. Like a line-up, but audio only," Jane says, allowing a hint of excitement into his voice.
There is a moment of silence as the team digests this information.
"Is it safe?" Grace asks. "Can we get to her without alerting anyone?"
"It'll be tricky," Jane admits. "Especially if Red John is watching her. We can try to find a way, though. And, she's an adult; she can make the decision whether or not she wants to identify him. We need to obtain the recordings first though, before we even try to find out where she's at. We can't risk alerting them too soon."
Lisbon almost smiles. Jane has his typical crazed Red John look, which normally would concern her, but the fact that he's acting almost normal is comforting. "And how do you propose we get these recordings?" She asks.
"Well, some will be easy. Think of how many news conferences Bertram has given. Stiles has recorded lectures. Others will be a bit harder, but it's worth trying!" Jane insists.
"Okay. Cho, Rigsby, I want you guys to start tracking down these recordings. We can wiretap conversations with some of them if necessary, but we can't just go and call up all of these people out of the blue; it will raise suspicions, especially with Red John watching. Van Pelt, I want you to keep trying to find connections between Haffner and known associates."
