The Mentalist – ReCap – Season 1, Episode 12 – Red Rum – air date 8/06/09. In this episode, Jane and the CBI crew are looking for a missing high school football star by the name of Cody Elkens. While the CBI team talks to Cody’s parents, Jane talks to three young boys on bikes that are sitting across the street. He gets one of them to nod in the direction that they think Cody can be found. Lo and behold, looking in that direction, Jane sees carrions circling in the sky. He and Lisbon walk over to the site, and find Cody – dead. Not only dead, but with a Pentacle near his body and candles surrounding him. This murder looks like a sacrificial death in a black magic ritual.

Cody’s parents blame a local (self professed) witch (Tamzin Dove) when told about the crime scene. Cody had been accused by her of taking her cat – which his parents insist he did not do. Supposedly the witch had called Cody up and cursed him. By this time it has been determined that Cody was more than likely not killed at the crime scene.

The CBI team goes to talk with Cody’s football coach, who he had an argument with just before disappearing. There is some explaining to do here, as the coach was dismissed from a previous position for hitting a child. In the locker room – which the coach gives them permission to search – they find a bloody tee shirt in Cody’s locker. The blood turns out to be the coach’s, who admits to having a fight with Cody. He also tells the team that Cody beat a boy by the name of Daniel Brown unconscious. The team later find out that the fight was because Brown had said something bad about Cody’s family. The Elkins family paid Brown for his silence, to keep Cody from jeopardizing his scholarship.

Jane, Lisbon and Cho go to talk to Tamzin Dove, but do not find her at home. However, the three boys that were on their bikes across from the initial interview with Cody’s parents are across the street from Tamzin Dove’s house. They leave before Jane can get to them.

Lisbon obtains a search warrant for Tamzin Dove’s house. She welcomes them, as she was expecting to be interviewed about Cody’s death. Tamzin tells the CBI team that she has befriended the kids in the neighborhood, and that they had nothing to do with Cody’s death. They discovered the body when they were in the woods picking herbs for her. She admits to putting a killing spell on Cody, as she believes that he tortured and killed her cat.

Jane and Cho go to interview the Elkins family again. When Jane sees Cody’s brother Brad leave the house, he follows him. In talking to Brad, ane finds out that he does not think that Cody killed Tamzin’s cat. Brad’s father come up and makes Jane leave.

In talking to Tamzin, Jane finds out that Brad has been part of her coven for several months, and was undergoing a cleansing ritual. Rigsby comes up with the information that Brad has been admitted to the hospital twice in the past year, allegedly for roughhousing with his brother. Brad states that he felt safe with Tamzin.

Jane and the CBI team stake out the Elkns house, and follow the father when he leaves in his truck. He goes into the forest, where he starts to bury a large wrench. This is the tool that Cody was killed with. It turns out that Elkins has been abusing his wife and sons for some time. He hit Cody in self-defense after an argument.

I loved this show – what appears to be truth is not exactly what is seems!