The next morning went on without any unusual events if one didn't count in the fact that they'd all slept at Hightower's place and had eaten their breakfast together in her dining room. After this, they all went different ways. Rigsby functioned as Madeleine's bodyguard again and followed her to the City Hall while the rest made their way to the CBI HQ accompanied by their security detail from outside the house.

Red John's mole Ron hadn't returned from his trip to LA yet, as they found out once they'd arrived. He'd called the switchboard earlier and had asked the receptionist to inform Lisbon of the fact that he'd still not gotten all the necessary forms and would have to wait. This provoked Jane's immediate suspicion and he made his lover call her contact in LA to verify the story. Just as he had expected Ron hadn't told the truth. He'd already received the forms rather late the last afternoon. Whatever he was still up to in LA or wherever else he was right now obviously didn't have anything to do with his official work.

The consultant wasn't too happy with this development. He didn't have concrete ideas at the moment, but he'd intended to use the mole for his own purposes at some point in the very near future, a plan that had been made nearly impossible with Ron's continued absence.

Without anything pertinent to do on the Red John case, most of the morning was spent doing routine work. Lisbon was still acting supervisor with the corresponding additional workload connected to the position. Cho and Van Pelt tried to assist her as much as possible, while Jane paid LaRoche a visit in his office with the hope of gaining more insights into Bertram.

The head of Professional Standards welcomed him with astonishing warmth and together they made use of all the possible resources the CBI offered for gathering facts about their opponent. After a lot of digging, they found some inconsistencies in Bertram's biography. They were hard to spot but enough to lead them both to believe that the identity was a forged one.

According to the files, the Bertram family had immigrated to the US from Germany about 150 years ago. Gale's great-great-grandfather Julius had been a German clergyman who'd gotten into a dispute with his bishop and was forced to leave the country to avoid prosecution. He'd settled in Texas, married and gotten a son, Rudolph, who became one of the pioneers for the development of railroads around Austin. They found out that there was even a small town there named Bertram after Rudolph, the largest stockholder of the Austin and Northwestern Railroad Company at the time.

The family had obviously prospered and their offspring was known for high levels of education and a certain wealth and influence. But the first clue that something was a bit fishy about the latest heir was the fact that every single male member of the family that Jane and LaRoche had been able to track down in the system had a Germanic given name. Patrick concluded that this was obviously a family tradition meant to honor the land of their origin, a deduction that J. J. fully agreed with. So it seemed very ominous that the former director of the CBI carried a name most certainly not of that variety.

They both decided "Gale" was a strange choice all around. Their research pointed to an Hebraic or rather Old Testamental origin which either could or couldn't be deemed suitable to commemorate the family's old ties to the church. It didn't seem very likely though, especially as it derived from a Biblical female name, Abigail, and would've been more convenient for a Jewish family anyway. And the Gaelic version Gale pointed more to Irish roots than German ones.

Both LaRoche and Jane couldn't fully quell a chuckle when they researched the meaning of the name because one source listed it as 'prisoner.' Other than that, their check-up of it didn't give them any further clues.

But other circumstances seemed a bit suspicious, such as the fact that they found two differing years of birth for the man in question, one making him a reasonable 51, the other implying that their opponent had reached the Biblical age of 134. This led them to another Bertram family, or rather Bertrams, which had in fact Irish roots and was now mostly to be found in and around a very small town in Iowa, which, incidentally, also carried the name Bertram.

J. J., who'd some experience with fraud recon because he'd worked with such a unit at some point in his career, identified this as typical signs of identity forgery. Jane, on the other hand, gave a demonstration of his superior memory skills and connected the newfound information at cyber speed concluding that, when it came to other facts about Gale Bertram, they seemed to be some kind of merger between the biographies of different members from both families.

Unfortunately all this proved was that there wasn't really a person called Gale Bertram, and it didn't bring them any closer to Red John's true identity. In the end they decided that this approach wasn't getting them anywhere. They had a face and his DNA, and this was likely the most they'd find out about him. Still, with no small amount of astonishment and satisfaction, both men had realized that they actually worked together very well. They even shared a similar kind of dry humor, which had made the futility of their endeavor at least somewhat bearable.


In this new spirit of cooperation, they went out together to buy lunch for themselves and the rest of the homicide team, deeply immersed in an amicable conversation, a sight that gave everybody they met at the CBI pause.

Lisbon however scolded them outright when they returned with their purchases and everybody convened in her office to eat. "Not that I don't appreciate the cessation of hostilities between the two of you, but could you at least try to act a little less conspicuous, not to mention suspicious?" Her brow was knit with irritation. "I'm sure you managed to make even the most guileless person in this building realize that something fishy is going on, what with you two normally being at each others' throats."

They both looked sheepish at the reprimand, but Jane regained his poise easily enough. "Ah, come on, Lisbon. Nothing like throwing all those moles out there a curve. Let them wonder. It'll give them something to brood about." He handed her a ham-and-cheese sandwich.

"Or it'll just tell them that we're joining forces," she replied, not impressed with his attitude at all. She still took the offered food and started eating.

He cast her an exasperated look. "Don't be naïve, Lisbon. He already knows that. He's not stupid after all. I bet, he knows of both our cooperation with Madeleine and with J. J. Let's stay realistic here, okay?"

"Don't patronize me, mister. There's still no reason to throw it in Bertram's face like that. The last thing we need is to provoke him even more."

Jane tried to look contrite, but didn't quite succeed. He'd done all in his power to stay in a constructive mood and not let the constant fear that had paralyzed him the day before win again, and if that meant bantering in public with his new friend J. J. – then so be it. "Well, then again, Gale Bertram's just a 134 year old farmer from Iowa. The worst our provocation could possibly do is make him turn over in his grave," he announced merrily, munching on a sandwich.

Lisbon sensed her lover's need to keep things light and decided to stop chastising him. Getting the gist of what he'd been trying to say with his last comment she inquired, "Is that the result of your research this morning?"

"I'm afraid so. And Gale's a prisoner, at least according to the meaning of his name, though unfortunately not in reality," Jane answered with a grin that looked somewhat forced in her opinion.

"That all you found out?" she pushed further, regretting it the moment she'd done so, as she could watch her consultant's face fall considerably.

"Yes, that's pretty much all, Agent Lisbon," LaRoche chimed in, having noticed Jane's changed mood as well. "Even if it doesn't help much at the moment, it at least confirms, that a Gale Bertram doesn't exist. It's a forged identity if ever I saw one. Cleverly forged and with enough truth to it to hold up against a lot of scrutiny, but forged nonetheless. And maybe looking deeper into his phony background will give us some insight into his next course of action."

The bald agent sighed and pondered whether to risk expressing his next thoughts or not. Just a day ago not even wild horses could've made him do so. And even now he was unsure of the wisdom of catering to Jane's ego. But he respected the other's intellect and after their constructive teamwork this morning, and considering his newfound personal respect and compassion for the consultant, he decided to chance it. He took a deep breath and added, "I'm sure that given time, Patrick, with his superior knowledge of the case, will surely come up with something useful."

Jane looked at him with true astonishment. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, J. J. Unfortunately, time's most likely the very thing we won't have much of. But I promise, I'll do my best."

They all continued to eat in silence for the next fifteen minutes.


"I might've got something," Van Pelt suddenly spoke up. "I've been trying to get some more information on Bertram via the DNA lead. I think I just found a relative of his in the database. Just a sec, should have a name right about now."

All eyes were on the redhead, when she blanched. "This can't be right," she whispered. "I better re-check." She frantically pushed buttons and opened and closed files.

"What, Grace? What did you find out?" Jane inquired with urgency.

She looked at him frightfully. "You, Jane. You are the match."

"No!" he protested. "That can't be right. He's playing with us. He must've manipulated the data."

Lisbon went over to Van Pelt's laptop and looked at the screen. Her younger colleague pushed some buttons again and seemed to demonstrate something to her. Teresa's brows furrowed in shock. "I don't think so, Patrick. Come, take a look at this."

The consultant stepped over to them, followed by Cho and LaRoche. Grace started to explain, "I've the original results from forensics here. He can't have manipulated them because I've kept them on a secure USB stick. And after I found the match in the CBI database, I re-checked the data with your DNA sample taken from a secure location as well. Same result." She looked a bit sheepish, when she continued, "I've had all the team's DNA profiles secured like that ever since the time back when Lisbon was falsely accused of murder. Thought it might be useful, in case something like that ever happened again." She blushed.

"Good thinking, Van Pelt," Lisbon praised her. "And if I understand you right, you've double-checked the results and both the CBI database and the DNA profiles you've secured personally show the same match?"

"Yes, Boss. I'm not an expert of course but from what I know, these results show with certainty that Bertram's related to Jane. Not in a direct line but definitely close," the redhead confirmed.

"But that's just not possible," Jane whispered, anguish on his face. "How could that be possible? I…"

All color left his face. Cho, who stood right beside him, realized that his friend wasn't steady on his legs anymore. He put his arm around Jane's shoulders and led the unresisting man over to the couch. Lisbon hurried to them immediately and sat down beside her lover. "Patrick, are you alright?" she asked, scolding herself for the inane query the second it had left her mouth. "Sorry, stupid question. Of course you're not alright." She took his hand between hers and squeezed it gently.

Jane took a deep breath and visibly composed himself. "I'm fine. This just took me completely by surprise. I never suspected anything like that. How close, Grace?"

The younger woman turned her eyes from her computer screen and onto him. "I'm really not an expert on this. I couldn't tell. We'd need a geneticist to be sure."

"I'll take what I can get right now, Grace. Just give me your closest estimation," the consultant replied with some impatience in his tone.

"I'd say maybe a second cousin or a distant uncle or something," Van Pelt answered haltingly. "But I really don't know."

Lisbon sat deep in thought, while Jane looked rather shell-shocked again. The others kept their silence as well until the senior agent finally spoke. "Must be from the maternal side of your family, Patrick. I don't see any other explanation, because I'm convinced that the Jane's aren't involved in this."

The curly man nodded hesitantly. "You're probably right." He looked up at her with a pained expression. "Do you think this is just some kind of weird coincidence?" he asked her meekly.

She shook her head sadly. "No, Patrick. And neither do you."

He nodded again with an even more tormented look. "But I don't know anything about my mother apart from her name," he admitted brokenly.

Lisbon pulled her devastated boyfriend into a hug, while she addressed her youngest teammate with as much professionalism as possible in her position, "Grace, check all available sources for a woman named Anne Charlotte Earl, year of birth between 1950 and 1955. Year of death, 1970 - well check for anything between 1970 and 1973, just to be safe. I want everything you can find, no matter how insignificant it may appear."

"I'm on it, Boss," the redhead answered and went to work immediately.

"Maybe I could be of some help as well, Agent Lisbon," LaRoche offered. "I have a rather high clearance for registry databases and the like also outside of California. Where were you born, Patrick?"

Jane, who'd hidden his face against Lisbon's neck, looked up and lessened the tight hold he had on his lover. "Hell, if I knew," he murmured.

"It should be in your passport, Jane," Cho provided.

The consultant chuckled without humor. "Yeah, it should. But it isn't. Not really. It states Walnut Creek, California, as the place of my birth, but that's just, well, let's say, a result of some creative persuasion techniques." He looked a bit sheepish. "When I first started out on my own I needed papers. I didn't have any and I've actually never seen my birth certificate. Maybe Alex had it. I wouldn't know." He seemed far away for a moment. "Reminds me that I have to deal with his bequest at some point," he muttered to himself. Addressing the others again he continued, "Anyway, I went to a registry office in LA and convinced one of the employees to fill in the blanks with not so very official information."

He took in the raised browns of his audience and sent them an impish grin. "But I'm really Patrick Jane, no further forgery involved. It's just that I don't even know whether I was born in California." He pondered for a moment. "I could find out, though. Have to contact Pete. He was there after all. But then again if you find my mother, Grace, her place of death gives you my place of birth anyway."


Grace cleared her throat, touched by her colleague's words. She understood immediately what his statement implied and felt very bad for him. "I just found a woman named Anne Charlotte Earl, born in 1952. Ah and here's the place she died in 1970," she piped up.

"Well, let's hear," Jane encouraged her, his eyes filled with sadness.

The redhead sighed. The name of the place wouldn't exactly make the consultant feel better, that she was sure of. "It's… I don't really know how to say it," she started.

"What's the problem, Van Pelt?" Lisbon inquired with worry in her voice.

"It's the name of the place, Boss. I doubt, it's a coincidence," the young woman explained.

Jane snorted. "Nothing seems to be. But maybe you're just turning as paranoid as I am, Grace."

She shook her head no. "Not this time, I don't think," she said apologetically.

"Come on, now, shoot! Don't kill us with the suspense. I promise, I'm not gonna hurt the messenger," Jane tried to joke.

"You might reconsider that when you know the truth, Jane," the redheaded agent replied. "But okay. The place isn't too far from here. It's called Red Bluff."


TBC

A/N: I did quite a bit of research when I came up with all the RJ background information in this chapter, so most of it has its roots in reality: there are really two places in the US called Bertram and their history as given in this story is genuine as far as the internet can be relied on. All I did was connecting the real facts with Gale Bertram. I've tried to use existing places whenever possible - that's also valid for future chapters. The additional information about RJ's background and Jane's mother is however made up to suit my plans... I'm still trying to stay true to canon and the facts we have been given by Team Heller as much as possible, but this fic is of course rather AU at this point...

On the matter of reviews and to borrow the words from our beloved CBI consultant: Please pretend just for a moment that I'm LaRoche (not that I look even remotely like him, but...): I'm like a Shar-Pei puppy that's rolled onto its back. You have to rub its belly... ;-)