A/N: Finally back with an update to this one (next chapter is almost complete also so I promise not too long before another update). Thank you to everyone who has helped this fic exceed 1000 reviews, I'm absolutely flattered and delighted. I know I've said it before but your words of encouragement for any fic really do spur me on to continue writing for this wonderful fandom. And for anyone who hasn't read it yet, I have also just published a oneshot called Endings for a little Twitter project I was involved in. You might want to check it out.

Chapter 37 - The Magician

Lisbon took a step away from the door. "What?! What on earth would make you say a thing like that?"

"Couple of things. Firstly, his whole demeanour when he was arrested. Outright shock. Not surprise - shock. And secondly, like you said, why if he was really Red John would he allow himself to be captured so easily? He wouldn't."

"Maybe he has such a high opinion of himself he thought he never could be. You said that yourself once. He doesn't know Partridge turned on him. And speaking of Partridge – what about the evidence he gave us that he's Red John? Patrick, I know you like mysteries trapped inside of mysteries but-"

"I don't care what Partridge led us to. McAllister is not Red John."

"You haven't even met him! How can you make such an assessment on seeing him for all of a minute on a tape?!"

"Calm down, woman, or you'll hurt yourself," he scolded her, glancing at her ribcage.

She rolled her eyes just as he jumped out of his chair with excitement. "Of course, that's it!" He grinned at her triumphantly. "Kinda obvious now, isn't it?"

As he dashed out of the office she squinted at the trail left by him. "What is? Where are you going?!"

He called to her, "Doing what you suggested, meeting him, of course! Come on!"

Jane burst through the doors to the interrogation room as Cho sat opposite McAllister. He smiled at the other man and went to shake his hand. "Patrick Jane, I've been looking forward to meeting you for quite some time-"

Jane's hand hung limply between them as McAllister's were shackled to the table. "Oh!" Jane chuckled, "Oopsy."

He dragged a chair beside him and sat down, his eyes circling Allister's face as he took hold of his closest wrist.

"What the hell!" McAllister exclaimed, trying to pull his hand away. "Who the hell is this, Cho?! What kinda show you people got going on around here?!"

Jane answered for his colleague, "Just as I suspected. You don't know me, do you? You have no idea who I am."

Baffled, "Should I? Now stop touching me! Or I'll be adding police harassment to the charges when my lawyer gets here in addition to this defamation of my character and these wildly trumped up accusations."

Jane dropped his wrist and leant back in his chair. He turned his head towards Cho. "He doesn't know me. The man who murdered my wife's lover would, don't you think?"

Cho's stoic gaze cracked slightly. "What are you saying?"

Lisbon made her way into the room. Breathlessly, "Jane?-"

Jane shook his head at her slightly and instead of responding to either of his colleagues he turned back to McAllister. The humour dropped from his voice. "Tell me about Brett Partridge."

McAllister blinked rapidly. "W-Who?"

Jane chuckled, "Wow, never play poker, my friend. How well do you know him?"

The sheriff shrugged. "He's a forensic tech, right? Lab rat? Seen him around. I-I don't know him well. And what does all this have to do with him?"

"Because he's the reason you're here. He set you up. And very nicely, too. He played us all, actually. Well, I had my suspicions but the proof was proving quite overwhelming." Jane nodded to a file in front of Cho. "In that folder are at least a dozen documents that tie you to being Red John."

He leant forward and caught the other man's gaze as it froze in astonishment. "Now, you said you don't know him well. Well, what would make him want to do that to a virtual stranger? Care to share any thoughts on the matter?"

"I-I'm saying nothing until my lawyer gets here," he stammered.

Jane tilted his head to the side with a sigh. "That's your choice, of course. But it's the wrong one. The more you say nothing the more Partridge is singing like a bird." Jane chortled, "Excuse the pun."

McAllister frowned and looked at his hands, played with his fingertips. "Let me see this so called evidence," he said quietly.

Cho opened up the file silently and laid the pages on the table in front of the sheriff one by one.

McAllister studied them, his brow furrowing further as he read each sheet. "These are all...fabricated. I've never heard of these companies or been involved in any of this. It says here I can hack into the CBI's network? I can barely switch a computer on. Ask anyone."

"I'm not much of a fan of the digital age myself," Jane replied in an easygoing tone. "But it could be conceived that this rather lacklustre...persona of yours," Jane waved his hand casually in the direction of the Sheriff, "would make for an excellent front to conceal the very real identity of Red John. Who is most definitely tech and savvy and smart as a whip."

"Are you calling me dumb, young man?"

Jane opened his mouth, "Ah...well-"

"Tell us what you know about Partridge. Why would he try to set you up?" Lisbon interjected, interest now firmly piqued.

The older man sighed and let go of a breath. "Hell, okay. I...uh...I know him. Well, knew him, really. I've barely crossed paths with him in years. I was a friend of his late father many years ago. Well, not really a friend - he hired me as a guide for hunting trips when I was still finding my way in my younger days and needed some cash in the summertime. I know the woods in Napa like the back of my hand."

"Go on," Cho urged, the other man's face twisted in recollection.

He sat up straighter and spoke without catching anyone's eye. "His father brought young Brett with him on a few trips during one summer when he was...I dunno...seven, eight? Something like that."

McAllister laughed briefly. "He was a runty little kid, skinny and shy. Wore these big old glasses that were too big for his face. He even had a stutter back then."

"He enjoyed hunting, though, didn't he?" Jane pressed.

"Yeah...yeah...he did. I was surprised. He was a natural even though he sure didn't look the type. Looked like one of those that would puke when it came to the skinning part." He shook his head in admiration. "But he was into it. Concentrated, you know. He did some beautifully detailed work with a knife."

Jane's eyes flickered to Lisbon's as surprise then understanding encompassed her face. He nodded to her imperceptibly and she nodded back with a swallow, exiting the room quietly. She interpreted his message – discover if Partridge was still secured at the safe house.

McAllister droned on, barely recognising Lisbon had exited as he continued talking, in his own world now, "He was a good little hunter."

"You got close to him that summer," Jane said, "liked him, even. He reminded you of yourself at that age."

McAllister looked at him quizzically.

"Your own father didn't treat you very well, did he? Neither did Brett's. You saw a bit of yourself in him. Empathised."

"My relationship with my father has nothing to do with this." McAllister's raised his voice as he glared at Jane.

"My apologies," Jane said affably. "I didn't have a good relationship with my own father. Maybe I'm projecting. Guess you were luckier."

McAllister bristled and bit the inside of his cheek.

Jane prodded, "I'm right, though, about Brett, aren't I? His father didn't treat him very well, did he?"

McAllister shrugged. "Like you said, sons and fathers – it's complicated sometimes."

"His relationship was more complicated than most, wasn't it?"

The other man shrugged again. "I-I don't know. What the hell does all that matter anyway now? It was years ago."

"It matters very much." He tapped the paperwork that littered the desk. "Because it relates to all of this now."

Jane paused to allow that information to settle before he continued. "Brett confided in you, didn't he? He told you what his father was doing to him. He asked for your help."

He spoke louder, insistent. "And you did nothing, did you? A child asks for your help and you did nothing. You allow his father to continue the abuse instead. What did you do, huh? You ignore it? Or tell him to suck it up? Or tell him to stop crying over it? You tell him that pain as a child will only make him stronger and make him more of his own man ultimately? Well, he sure did get strong, didn't he?! He certainly did become his own man!"

No reaction gained apart from a gasp as he looked at his cuffs, Jane rose from his chair and grabbed a photo of a smiley face, pushed it in front of his face. McAllister kept looking down at his hands. "Look at this!" Jane demanded. "You helped him become this by doing nothing!"

McAllister drew his head back and shook his head, tears in his eyes. "Just stop, all right! His father was a powerful man! Who was going to believe me?! I was a nobody! How the hell was I supposed to know this would happen! I didn't know he'd become Red John!"

Jane sat down again and took a deep breath. He spoke more calmly. "You're right. You couldn't have. But aren't you sorry now that you didn't help him when you should have? All those murders...their blood is on your hands too."

"Partridge - he's still at the safe house," Lisbon said to Minelli as she hung up and they watched the interview unfold through the two-way mirror. "What happens now?"

Minelli puffed out a breath. "It's one man's word against the other. And right now the evidence lies squarely against McAllister. That's why Partridge hasn't fled."

"But he's Red John! That's obvious now. Even I can tell McAllister is telling the truth."

"I know. But Lisbon, we have to follow the evidence wherever it takes us," Minelli supplied reluctantly. "Some of that paperwork in there has been around for years. He's been planning for this day for a long time." He paused, "One thing I don't get is why all that with Ryan, though? Why set him up? Any ideas? He came to you with that evidence and set himself up as one of Red John's men by doing so. Doing nothing he could have continued to get away with this for years."

"To make us look at him more closely. He wanted that attention and what better way than to point the finger of suspicion at my boyfriend? He knew I wouldn't buy it."

"But he also wanted Ryan to plead guilty to being Red John and be charged accordingly. I don't understand that ploy if all he wanted was attention."

Jane strolled in and answered Minelli, "Perhaps that was his initial plan. To make Ryan go down for this and stay in the shadows for some more time. Save McAllister's fate for another day when he'd come back and kill again as Red John when he was satisfied the CBI was irreparably damaged. Destroy your reputation and Teresa's in the process as Ryan rots in prison. He must be aware of the work you've been doing to infiltrate his organisation. He had to put a stop to it by making you two look, at best, incompetent.

But he had to adjust when we removed Ryan from the equation and so he decided to move on to his ultimate plan instead – the framing of McAllister. Then, once he is imprisoned - and most likely murdered in prison by one of his people - Red John would emerge once again and the CBI's reputation will be ruined forever as they not only arrested not one but two innocent men as Red John."

Lisbon chipped in, "We wouldn't have believed just anyone if they told us McAllister was Red John. Evidence or not. He knew we'd only believe someone from his inner circle who was desperate for a deal to stay alive. It adds to credibility in front of a jury. Evidence alone might not have been enough to get a conviction. Courtrooms like drama and eye witness testimony. Stands to reason he'd be able to put on a show of being terrified and convince a jury of him being a recalcitrant witness if he's been able to fool us all these years about who he really is."

She scoffed. "It's kinda brilliant. Risky but clever. Even if McAllister refutes what he says on the stand it would appear like just any other murderer trying to escape the noose by blaming the witness."

Minelli added, "Plus he wants McAllister to know that he was the one who set him up. He wanted us to get interested in him so he could lead us wherever he decided to take us. So he could frame his old confidante. He didn't care if his work was under scrutiny. That was the entire point of the exercise."

Lisbon chipped in, "And killing Pat...that really put the spotlight onto him. He wanted us to bring him in and to make it look like he was being pressed into giving up McAllister. Plus he gets some retribution for us making him change his initial plan at the same time by killing her. He came quietly, remember? Looking back, that was the red flag. If he'd been truly worried he'd have ran before he could have been picked up. Instead he stayed and made it look like he was the one doing us a favour. And we lapped it right up."

Jane nodded. "The talent of a true magician. Have the audience look one way to stop them looking at what's in your other hand. Pretend to drop a card when what you're really doing is stacking the other fifty-one cards in the deck with the other hand."

Lisbon nodded, "Point a finger at someone else to stop being looked at yourself. It's quite masterful, really."

"Masterful it may be but how the hell do we prove any of it?" Minelli responded.

Jane spoke. "He's still at the safe house, I presume?"

"Yeah," Lisbon replied, "living it up over there by all accounts."

"Why wouldn't he? He's going to put the man in prison he's been wanting to all these years."

"He has to know McAllister would talk to us and confess what he knows when he was arrested."

"Of course. Precisely what he wants. He wants us to know that he's Red John and that we don't have one ounce of proof against him. He wins. Gets immunity and a new life to pretend to be someone else all over again."

She shook her head. "This is...so wrong. McAllister is no saint but this is wrong."

The three of them looked at each other in abject silence. Then Jane clicked on his tongue. Cheerfully, "So then let's make it right, shall we?"