Disclaimer: I don't own the Mentalist.

Tag to 4x24: "The Crimson Hat."

You're sure he wonders why you haven't targeted those closest to him. Really, it's quite simple. Delicious, even. There's a reason why you haven't killed Teresa Lisbon yet; you're saving her. And in the meantime, she serves a crucial role.

Patrick Jane became terribly boring during his first breakdown. It was beautiful watching him fall apart – he was beautiful, all scattered stuffing and bent springs – but then he became too… single-faceted. Without reason to live, he snapped. And despite common belief, insane people are really quite dull. No, it's the people who hover on the brink of insanity that are interesting.

You've always lost interest in toys once you've broken them beyond repair.

So Teresa Lisbon is necessary; she holds Patrick back from falling headfirst into madness or apathy, gives him a reason to care, a reason to fight.

Every time you crack him apart, she puts him back together, the jagged pieces fitting together worse and worse each time. He's a bit more broken, a bit more hollow, but she patches him up and keeps him going with little more than determination and Elmer's glue. She makes him care and hope and then you get to tear him apart again. In that sense, Teresa is perhaps one of your most useful tools, unwitting though she may be. It's rather delightful.

And watching Patrick worry over why you haven't tried to hurt his pet agent is yet another benefit. Every now and then, he tries to distance himself from her for her own good, but, like you, he's selfish. His self-inflicted torture is amusing to behold, particularly because he always goes back to her in the end, allowing the cycle to begin anew.

This won't last forever, of course. A miracle worker she may be, but even Saint Teresa can't keep Patrick Jane from eventually succumbing to his destiny. And once Patrick has fallen, then the real fun will start.

Over the years, you've come to think of Patrick as a kindred spirit of sorts. He's certainly the only worthy opponent you've ever had. Most people are sheep, and there's no real pleasure to be found in playing with people who can't fully appreciate your work. Patrick, though…

Simply destroying him would be no fun, and you have no desire to kill the man. He's your favorite toy, after all. No, you have bigger plans for him. You are going to keep deepening the fractures in his fault lines until he cracks for the final time.

You see, Patrick must be laid bare before the next stage of the game can commence. Only when Patrick Jane has been reduced to near-rubble, can he be rebuilt in your image.

A new order will rise from his proverbial ashes.

You can hardly wait.

"On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art.
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?"

- William Blake, The Tyger