The ONLY reason Brett Partridge was brought up in this episode was to remind viewers of the character before he is revealed as Red John next week. 

Also: pigeons.

Brett Partridge is not dead, in fact he was the first to "die". He is also Red John. He is the only member of Tyger Tyger to remove his tattoo, post mortem or otherwise. A forensics expert is not going to leave a trace or a tattoo, that means his apparent body, also.

I'm glad it is him, from the first episode of the first season and subsequent scenes and seasons after. Although his profession and demeanour was creepy, his final scene prior to his staged death was a complete u-turn from his usual cocky, cretinous behaviour. His character is the embodiment of the tyer, burning bright right in front of us, hiding in plain sight. 

Bravo, Brett. I hope he reveals something even worse than cop conspiracy and a victim list.

Last week I made a very simple prediction about this week's episode: that the Blake reference will not be just in the episode's title, but explicitly articulated by the characters.

And sure enough, we learn about the "Blake Organization".

Why is this significant?
Up until now there was only the poem "Tyger Tyger" as a definite inside-the-show reference to Blake.
Yes, Bertram quoted "A Cradle Song" at the end of "Red Queen", but that could be random.

But now we know that Blake references are significant - they are messages from RJ, rather than an artistic device by the writers of the show.
There's only one message that is more incriminatory than Bertram's quotation, and that's someone having such a reference as their alias.
Yes, "A Brace of Partridge", I'm looking at you.

I'm not going into the whole "he's dead" argument.
Suffice to say that even in this week's episode, Cho does not take a look at BP's face.
What amazing storytelling!

----------

And now for the punch.

There's one more character with a Blake reference for an alias (and we know it's an alias rather than a real name).
Can you guess who?

Tamzin Dove. Remember her?
Tamzin = twin = pair = brace
Dove = bird = Partridge (yes, quite different birds, but this is art, not ornithology!)

Is Tamzin Dove RJ's daughter?
Will she follow in his footsteps after PJ kills him?

Tamzin Dove is portrayed by actress Azura Skye.
The episode following "Red John" is "My Blue Heaven".
Fill in the blanks.

I'm pretty much convinced that Red John is Brett Partridge or maybe someone else who is not on the list but I can't think of anyone else who could be a credible suspect other than Brett Partridge.

Has anyone ever heard of GOLDEN AGE OF DETECTIVE FICTION? It was an era of classic murder mystery novels produced by various authors, all following similar patterns and style. In that era 10 rules of  good detectiv stories were established so I decided to see if I can apply any of these 10 rules to The Mentalist to help me get closer to finding out who Red John is.

1. THE CRIMINAL MUST BE MENTIONED IN THE EARLY PART OF THE STORY, BUT MUST NOT BE ANYONE WHOSE THOUGHTS THE READER HAS BEEN  ALLOWED TO KNOW. -  If we apply this rule to the mentalist it really points to Partridge. We see him in the first episode of the first season and many times more but we never actually learn anything about him.

2. THE DETECTIVE HIMSELF MUST NOT COMMIT THE CRIME. - If there is anyone out there who still thinks Jane is Red John, applying this rule would make that theory imposible.

3. TWIN BROTHERS, AND DOUBLES GENERALLY, MUST NOT APPEAR UNLESS WE HAVE BEEN DULY PREPARED FOR THEM.- This rule cancels out Bob/Micheal Kirkland theory.

There are 10 rules all together but I didn't list them all simply because these 3 are the most helpful ones in concluding who Red John is.

There is one more thing that I noticed in 6x07. When they brought Reede Smith in for questioning he told them a story of how he was addicted to pain killers and because of them he accidentaly shot a 12 year old girl. Tyger Tyger organization helped him to conceal this incident in return for his services.
After hearing that story Smith told I immediately rememberd that in previous seasons Cho had an addiction to pain killers and they never showed us how or when or if he ever stopped using those pain killers. Does anyone else think this is a little suspicipus or is it just a plain coincidence?

'Partridge-is-dead' believers, can you please explain the burnt left shoulder of the corpse?

Why the hell Bruno is stretching partridge so long (till the Red John showdown), if he is dead??

Definately, even if partridge is not redjohn, he has something bigger role to play in S06E08....

I also have one observation:

Till the end of S06E06, Patrick didn't know anything about Tyger Tyger (as he was surprised to see three suspects having the tatto)...
Suddenly, in S06E07, he realizes there is a secret evil organisation in law enforcement. 

My guess: Something that must have been happened at the house where patrick calls in all suspects and which may be revealed in next episode...Still I am not sure...

Please explain this...
 

Made a few big typo's. Repost. Sorry to be irksome.

Here is what I think happened: Gale Bertram, McAllister, and Smith all work for Tyger Tyger.

Gale Bertram, McAllister and Smith ALSO work for Robert Kirkland. Robert planted spies in Tyger Tyger so he could uncover the conspiracy. Who convinces Minelli to retire? It can be seen in season 2, its Kirkland! Then Bertram arrives later :) In the episode, Gale Bertram leaves a flash drive, full of names of everyone in Tyger Tyger in the safe.

Red John thinks Bertram is playing a loyal footsoldier in pretending that he's Red John. However Bertram is complying with Patrick's plan. Patrick has been sedated. He's completely unharmed from the blast. Gale Bertram is completely unharmed. Bertram is the one who  sedated Patrick before the blast.  Reede Smith is completely unharmed then takes a freaking bullet for Patrick's plan- he's a stand up hero. Patrick doesn't need to tell Bertram to go and play his role well. Bertram is a stand up guy, acting for the greater good.

However this is what we think happened in the house.

Ray Haffner is told to lift up his shirt properly, revealing a vertical tattoo. Patrick fires a gunshot pointing above him. The bullet makes Haffner scream, even though it missed. Lisbon's phone is bugged by Red John. He hear's Haffner plead and the bullet. Later he hears Patrick blew everyone up. Remember who Patrick helped in episode 2? A weapon designing company. Its about time Patrick gets a reward for doing all those cases.

There's a long pause between the bomb and the bullet. Patrick issues orders to McAllister. McAllister kidnaps Bret Stiles and Ray Haffner. You can see him leaving the scene in another larger car.

Bertram and Reede Smith are ordered by Patrick to become fugitives after they're seen by Lisbon. These are loyal men. They are acting for the greater good. They will do anything to uncover the Tyger Tyger conspiracy, they will give their own lives, or even take others.

At the end of the episode Patrick is done. He has won by destroying Tyger Tyger. Bertram has given CBI the list of names. McAllister has taken Stiles and Ray Haffner- The Visualize links. HOWEVER by making Red John think he's won, Patrick lures Red John like he did in season 4. When Patrick says to Lisbon "I'm letting go," Red John hears because she's bugged. Red John sends a man on his behalf to say to Patrick "I've won". Patrick shoots him once, but Patrick has known, since Lorelei Martins told him he's met Red John, that Red John is Brett Partridge (Harker's description.) The man in the cathedral is not Red John, but Patrick pretends he is. He shoots him once then shows him mercy.

After that the real Red John is confident Patrick will not kill him, so he agrees to meet Patrick. And I really hope Patrick's blue teacup was not smashed in vain.

Patrick is then wanted by the FBI for charges of fraud after everyone discovers what he really did, so Patrick flees to Mexico.

First of all, I apologize if something is bad written, English is not my native language.

I have too many reasons to think Partridge will be Red John. We didn't see the face of Partridge when Cho went to see the body. Why was he wearing a suit? The man there said that for any reason they wear them before they are cremated. That would be a good trick for us not to see the wounds he was suppose to have in his body. Secondly, in the promo of 6x08, there are two pigeons on it, maybe it would be very evident to see two partridges. 

Who would be a better Red John than someone who has been literally there since the very first moment, in the Pilot episode? 
Every time Brett Partridge has made an appearance there has been clues that relate him to Red John, for example, Partridge appeared speaking in Spanish in one of the episodes, and Red John went to Mexico to kill Renfrew. In other episode, he makes a reference to a literature work of Dickens that both, Jane and Partridge knew, proving that he is a good knower of literature, like Red John, who said the poem of Blake's, The Tyger.

But the thing that makes me suspect the most that he is Red John, is the coincidence between the name "Roy Tagliaferro" and what it means, and the conexion that it has to a partridge (there are some theories that explain this on this site). There is no way Bruno Heller did this without any intention.

Some of you might think that as he is suppose to be death, he can't be Red John, but it could be possible that he faked his own death not to be a suspect anymore, or the people in the Blake Organization killed him, because if the CBI found he was Red John, they would have dismantled the organization. The erased tattoo in the shoulder is very suspicious.

And, as Jane said, he is a ghoul.