Thank you, thank you, thank you to all people reading this story, sending messages, reviewing it and favoriting it.

I'm really glad with the reactions, they are truly appreciated!

Chapter seven

Bertram was expecting them as they entered the CBI-Headquarters. Lisbon had called him in advance, asking him not keep their meeting confidential.

As he sat down behind his desk, Bertram eyed Jane. "You look like you belong in a hospital. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Sir," Jane spoke calmly, "if we want to catch the person who did this to this Bureau, then you need me. I have reason to believe that I'm the main target. Don't ask me why because I don't know. But as you know, I don't make friends easily and right now three people that I spoke a lot to on this premises, have died. I don't believe in coincidences."

"Then why is Agent Lisbon still up and running? And Rigsby? Van Pelt? Agent Cho?"

"I don't know, sir. I do know that Van Pelt became sick as well. And there are several people in this department that have complained of the same problems. I believe that he is poisoning us all slowly, probably through the air-conditioning system of this building, food or drinks."

"We've checked and searched the entire building. There was nothing to find."

"Sir, we are going under the suspicion he is one of us, someone who works here and is clever enough to do the poisoning slowly and in periods of time," Lisbon stated. "There were three weeks between Janet Gray's death and the other deaths. He must have worked very carefully, knowing we would immediately know had someone else died immediately after her. Perhaps he didn't assume that Kate and Tom would die almost at the same time either. Tom Peterson had a heart problem. In his blood work the coroner found a lot less traces of the lead but it was enough to stop his heart."

"Alright", Bertram said. "Assuming all this, how are you going to lure the rat out of its cage?"

"We are going to upset him," Jane said. "He has to believe that his work was for nothing. Basically, I want him to get so angry that he will take dramatic steps towards me, attempting to kill me."

Bertram raised his eyebrows. "You're going to try to have him kill you?"

"Yes, sir. That's basically it."

"Assuming you are the target."

"Yes, assuming that."

"I don't mean to be the party pooper here, Jane, but what evidence do you have?"

"My illness," Jane replied quietly. "The levels of lead in my bloodstream were ten times higher than that of Lisbon. It's about the same level that took out Kate Lomax."

"Okay." Bertram stood. "How are we going to do this?"

Jane smiled. "You are going to love this one, sir. We would like you to call in every single agent and people working in this building, have them gather in the late afternoon and tell them that we – Agent Lisbon and I – had it all wrong. I'd like you to get into an argument with us. After that, it's wait and see."

Bertram smiled. "You're right. I do like to give you hell. Let's do it. What about the blood tests?"

"I've asked the hospital to still do them under the impression there is a stomach bug going about that is very aggressive. If our suspicions are correct, they will confirm who the killer is. The medical team will be here around 3 pm. We'll have the results later tonight."

Bertram grabbed his phone and called in his temporary assistant replacing Kate Lomax, barking orders at her. Instantly she went to work, sending out a general message to all field operatives and assistant to drop what they were doing and to return to the CBI Headquarters.

"I hope you're right, Jane," Bertram said. "Otherwise we will have scared him or her off and we'll never find out who it was."

Jane nodded quietly, realizing all too well what risks they were taking.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Later that afternoon, with Jane resting on the couch and the others trying to focus on their jobs, the office filled out slowly with all the CBI-employees. Around 3 p.m. all of them had arrived, as well as the medical team ordered to take blood tests of everyone.

As lists were being made and people were being checked, a growing suspicion had people eyeing each other, wondering what was going on and who they were looking for.

Finally, as the medical team had finished and left, promising their entire lab to get the results back asap, Bertram stepped in the center of the bullpen and addressed everyone.

"Listen up," he began. "I know that you are all very worried about what's going on, so I'll start with the good news and that is that the lab results and tests have shown that there is nothing serious going on within the CBI."

Immediately you could hear a needle drop on the floor. The agents stared floored at their boss, unable to understand what he was saying.

"Even though we had Agent Lisbon and her team trying to find out what was going on, we came to realize that we blew up the situation quite a bit. Kate Lomax died of natural causes; Tom Peterson had a weak heart. The unfortunate coincidence they both died at the same time had set things in motions that shouldn't have been questioned.

"Then why the blood tests?" a woman asked concerned. "If there was nothing going on?"

"The doctors did examine several of our people who weren't feeling well and discovered an aggressive bug that attacks your stomach and intestines. Because we're afraid there might be an epidemic within the Agency, we decided to check everyone and provide the right antibiotics. This is just a safety measure and the CBI pays the bill."

"What about Sarah?" another woman asked.

"Sarah, unfortunately died of this stomach bug, or so we believe. There is no way of verifying this now, as she was cremated. But the doctors believe that the stomach bug was left untreated and impacted her heart."

Agents looked at each other in disbelief or in relief. Agent Lisbon looked around, watching them carefully. Within a few seconds they started to talk amongst each other, most of them quite happy that the entire story had ended this way, not realizing the lies they had been fed.

Then Jane stepped forward, facing Bertram and said, "Sir, I have to object to this. There is no such thing as a coincidence. These people died because someone poisoned them. We need to investigate this further."

"Patrick," Bertram spoke calmly. "You were at the hospital, you were examined. You were treated for that same bug. Don't you believe what your doctors have said?"

"No, sir, I don't. I believe there is more going on."

"Then you must be running a fever because I've spoken to several doctors at the hospital and they all confirm the same story. There is no killer. There is no poison or whatever you believe there might be wrong. You were going on a wild goose chase."

"One that you started, sir, or did you forget?"

"Jane, I was dragged into this story just like you were. But there is no more story. We've been chasing ghosts. Now, if we can all go back to normal."

Jane turned to look at Lisbon. "Lisbon, you tell him."

Lisbon watched the two men without saying a single word. If she hadn't known the truth, she would have believed they were genuinely arguing too. She could see the reactions on the faces of the agents around them. Their boss, fighting with a hired consultant? With Patrick Jane, who had solved so many cases they couldn't keep count? Who did they have to believe?

"Jane, stop this nonsense, alright?" Bertram sighed. "I know that you've been chasing Red John for too long to see clearly now. Now stop it, you can't win this fight. It's over." Bertram looked around at his agents. "Everyone, thank you for coming to listen to this. Now I suggest that we all go home, rest up and come back tomorrow. Those of you who want to stick around, you're free to do so of course."

"Sir, please listen to me," Jane almost begged. "Don't do this. I'm asking you to further investigate this."

Bertram's voice was harsh as he eyed his consultant. "Stop it, Jane. Go upstairs and get some rest. You look like hell."

"I –" Jane shrugged. "Fine. Good night."

With that, he left the bullpen defeated and walked over to the elevator, pushing the button hard, smiling as he faced the elevator doors. He knew now who the killer was. He had seen him.

Bertram turned towards Lisbon, casting her an angry glare. "Agent Lisbon, I suggest that you keep an eye on your consultant. He's obviously not doing that great. I suggest you bring him back to the hospital in the morning if he still acts like this. We'll talk tomorrow. Goodnight everyone."

"Sir –"

"Tomorrow, Lisbon!" Bertram took the lead and grabbed his coat and belongings, setting the pace for everyone else to follow. They had agreed he would leave to give their possible killer a free hand.

Lisbon bit her tongue and decided against retorting, playing the game. "Yes, sir."

As she returned to her desk, she saw the bullpen slowly empty. A lot of agents shut off their laptops and picked up their things as they prepared to have an early night. Some returned to their desks and went back to work. She tried to spot anyone acting differently but couldn't. Van Pelt, Rigsby and Cho remained with her as she nodded gently with her head and lured them into the kitchen.

"Look," she said quietly. "I need you to monitor everyone who is still here. If Jane is right, our killer will be going after him tonight. Rigsby, go upstairs and stay with Jane."

"Okay boss."

"And stop calling me –"

"Boss, I know. Okay boss."

Lisbon turned towards Van Pelt and Cho. "Do your thing. Act as if nothing is wrong and keep an eye out. If he strikes, he'll strike tonight and we have to be here."

The other two nodded and returned to their desks, pretending to be working while casting glances around at the eight remaining agents who were still on the floor. Lisbon knew it was a long shot. For all they knew, the killer could have pretended to leave with the others, only to return in secret or to remain behind. This old building had a lot of ways to walk through it without being noticed.

Please be okay, Jane, Lisbon prayed silently, touching her necklace without even thinking of it, realizing the huge risks they were taking. She didn't like it one bit.

After that, peace and quiet returned to the bullpen. The only audible sounds were that of people typing and voices whispering in discussion. Nearly an hour later, Lisbon started to believe that nothing would happen and they had been wrong from the start. Part of her almost wanted to believe Bertram's story, even if she knew better.

And then suddenly, she started feeling weary, tired. She couldn't keep her eyes open. She looked up and saw her colleagues seated behind their desks, their faces as tired as hers, almost as if they were being … drugged.

Lisbon stood and stumbled over to Cho's desk. "Cho … Cho, I'm not feeling so well."

He looked at her and she could see his eyes roll back in their sockets. He slumped forward, face down on his desk. Lisbon turned in shock, only to find that all the doors to their office had been closed. All windows were shut. Who had done that? She had been working so intently that she hadn't noticed.

Dizziness overwhelmed her, she started to count agents … one agent was missing from his desk. She knew him, knew who he was. "Van Pelt," she whispered, trying to reach the red-headed agent who had passed out.

Lisbon smelled it then, a faint odor coming in through the air ducts. She fell to her knees, her hands on the floor, reaching up to grab her phone, dialing number 4, Bertram's speed dial.

I should open the doors. That was the last sane thought Lisbon had before everything just went black before her eyes.