Sorry it had taken me soooooooooo long to update, have moved house and was deprived of internet access for a ridiculously long time. I plan on posting another chapter tomorrow to make amends : ) Thanks to everybody who has reviewed this story so far and to everybody who has alerted to this story, you guys rock! Keep the reviews coming!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Mentalist, sadly, but one can dream.

Chapter Six:

Patrick had learnt many things during the course of the day that he spent at Canary Wharf.

Firstly, Cho was seriously the best interrogator ever. That poker face of his was on top form today as he ruthlessly interviewed each of Farnley's work colleagues; managing to trick two of them into admitting to embezzling thousands from the company; subsequently getting them fired. The CID were clearly impressed with such skills and Jane could even detect a faint smile form across Cho's face after being congratulated by DCI Grimshaw for doing such an exemplary job.

Secondly, none of these upper-middle class douche-bags had anything to do with Farnley's murder. Sure, they were rich bankers and in such an industry, everybody has a motive; but Farnley's death was significant, the body, as with Hartley's was not concealed and was left as a clear message. If anyone at Smithson's had committed the crime then they would simply have Farnley disappear.

The last thing that he learnt, as he was being thrown out of the tall office block by security guards, was that rich people were very easy to wind up.

Samantha had been assigned to take Jane back to Scotland Yard to debrief Lisbon and her team while Harry, Colin and Cho finished things up at the bank. Samantha was very stoic, very cool and calm. She hadn't so much as blinked when one of the interviewees made crude and sexist comments towards her; she simply carried on doing her job. At first Jane had just assumed her to be a female version of his dear Cho; but there was something quite unsettling about just how cool and collected she was at all times. However as they set off in the car, with her behind the wheel much to Jane's dismay, he saw the makings of a smile envelop on her face; albeit a small one.

'So you like winding up rich people huh?' she asked, while all the while not keeping her eyes off the road.

'Rich people. Arrogant people. Dumb people. Egotistical people. You name it; I can get under their skin.'

'And that's something you're proud of is it?'

'Well we must use the tools that God gave us Miss Jones. As much as I like winding people up; it's also a great way to get a sense of people's true character. Like if they have a violent temper or not. But we all have different skills and it's knowing how to use them. Take Cho for example. He played it cool and calm, made the guys so nervous that they began to trip up overthemselves and he got them to admit to embezzling without asking more than four questions'

A faint trace of a laugh escaped from Samantha's mouth before she could contain herself.

'He is good I'll give him that. I'm starting to worry for my reputation.'

'And what reputation would that be?' Jane was suddenly intrigued.

'They call me the Ice Queen.' She laughed. 'I must say it's not very original; but fairly accurate. I just think that at work it's best not to show too much of your personality shine through. Especially in a job such as this.'

'Outside of work you're quite the life of the party aren't you?' Patrick asked, although it was more of a statement.

'Maybe in my early twenties, Mr. Jane; my partying days are well behind me.' She said in a brief unguarded moment which didn't go unnoticed by Jane and he could see some sadness in her eyes. Trying to change the subject, she cleared her throat and asked. 'So, what do you make of the team so far?'

'Well your boss seems like a decent guy; sort of like the friendly arts teacher you would have at school. He clearly takes too much upon himself, taking on too much responsibility and therefore his life centres around his job.' A brief nod from Samantha told him that this analysis was spot on and he continued.

'Well Colin is your typical well-bred, well-educated boy from a well to do family. A bit of a ladies man, a player but not a bad guy; just a little bit insensitive to other people's feelings. His family clearly told him that to earn his share of the family fortune he would have to get a decent, respectable job hence why he became a policeman. Quite a good detective; but I can't understand how he has ended up in a higher ranking job than you... or Nikki for that matter.'

'Colin is connected; influence is influence.' Samantha stated and Patrick shot her an understanding smile. He would get so annoyed back in Sacramento about Bertrem giving Lisbon a hard time just because a suspect happened to be related to the attorney general or something; it was rich man's justice and he hated it. It was clear that nothing was different over here.

'Which just leaves little Nikki left. The youngest and newest addition to the team, and therefore the baby who is desperate to prove herself to everyone; promoted young but purely on merit, can be naive about the ways of the world which makes you get annoyed at her constantly and has therefore left her thinking that you don't like her.'

Samantha replied, very cool and calm and in a very matter of fact manner, 'I do like Nikki, in a way she's my favourite which is why I'm probably cold towards her.'

'She reminds you of a younger version of yourself.' Jane interjected in his usual fashion. 'She is a constant reminder of what you were like at that age; full of hope and optimism?'

Samantha didn't even need to reply, Jane could tell by the look on her face that he was bang on, as per usual. He still couldn't quite read her as much as he would like, she was a closed book to him. And by the focused look planted on her face she was clearly determined to remain that way.

Patrick found it frustrating that he could not quite place this woman. He was sure that they must have met before; but his memory palace was clearly failing him. How very peculiar.

xxXXxxXXxxXXxx

'Damn it!', Lisbon yelled as she slammed her blackberry on her desk.

'What's wrong, boss?' Van Pelt asked tentatively, although she already knew the answer to that question.

'Jane, of course,' and Van Pelt's suspicions were confirmed, 'That was Harry on the phone; Jane only went and got himself kicked out of a top financial institution after insulting all of the big wigs there. Honestly, he's like a naughty child.'

Van Pelt stifled a laugh, earning her a glare from Lisbon who was clearly worried about the fall out of all this; so she changed the subject. 'I finished those background checks on Farnley's family members?'

'Anything flagged?'

'Not really. I mean his youngest son, Devon, does indeed have a drug problem but we kind of gathered that from interviewing him. He's been caught in possession of heroin a few times but with a little case of rich man's justice the charges just disappeared. He also has a cast-iron alibi for the night of the murder.'

'And what about the wife?' Lisbon asked, a little strain of desperation in her voice; they were running out of leads and fast. 'Farnley had a mistress, well he had several, which would give her motive.'

'Wayne and Nikki are still in there talking to her,' Grace pointed in the direction of the interview room, 'she knew about the affairs, but she stayed for the sake of her children. She doesn't have any witnesses that can verify where she was at the time of the murder... but I don't think she had anything to do with it boss. She seems to... nice.'

Lisbon couldn't deny that Grace was right, besides she knew deep down that this was connected to Red John; she was just holding on to anything that made the case less complicated than it needed to be in the hopes that they could close this case fast and head on back to Sacramento.

Not being with Jane was making her feel uneasy. Although he was a constant pain in the ass, at least when with her she could at least try to keep him in check. But knowing that he was in a strange city, making some other cop's life hell was giving her a very large tension headache; at least, that was partly the reason. She hadn't been able to stop thinking about Jane all day, ever since their mini adventure this morning. She enjoyed it because it didn't feel like they were there for work. She wasn't his boss, he wasn;t her annoying consultant; they were just two people taking in the beautiful sights around them. Of course, the call from Harry had just reminded her that he was back to being that annoying pain in the ass.

It wasn't until Van Pelt spoke that Lisbon was brought out of her trance; man that was a weird thought, she said to herself.

'So, what did Harry say? Was he mad?' her eyes full of concern.

'Nah, he just said that i have to help him with the paperwork. Cho did good apparently, although no surprises there. At least one of us has made a good impression.'

'Oh i think more than one of us has made a good impression on DCI Grimshaw; if you catch my drift?' Van Pelt winked at her boss, all the while looking around to see if anybody else was listening.

Lisbon was dumbfounded. 'What on earth could you possibly mean by that Grace?'

Grace rolled her eyes, 'Oh COME ON, he blatantly has the hots for you. No wander he wants to help you with the ehm... paperwork.'

And with that statement Van Pelt swooped back into the interview to help Wayne and Nikki, leaving Lisbon sat alone, and extremely confused at her desk.

So what do you think? Reviews please? Pretty please?