Gale Bertram, the mastermind, is Red John.

Below are 2 links to my old theories. Please read them first.

http://www.whoisredjohn.com/See-a-theory-Red-John/1849
http://www.whoisredjohn.com/See-a-theory-Red-John/3183

Now, Timothy Carter told Jane "When O'laughlin told me about your trap..."

How did RJ know it was a trap? It could be just real. Bertram knew about the trap, because Lisbon told him a different room number. The moment O'laughlin told him about it, he knew. Bertram arranged Timothy act and he left just after Jane started to talk about killing Todd Johnson. It is a very important topic, about a mole in CBI, and Bertram simply leaves the scene, nonsense.

We know for a fact that Kirkland is not after Red John. If he were after RJ, he would ask Jason Lennon who RJ is. Instead, he killed Jason. Although he seems like they were after RJ, they were actually after Lorelei. Nothing can persuade me that Kirkland is hunting RJ just like Jane. If he were, he would ask. If he cared about knowing who RJ is, he would move Jason to a secure floor and question him. It was obvious that Jane would visit again, he knew, and he did not care. He had no intention of learning RJ's identity, he was there to kill Jason so that Jason does not speak. It was about damage control.

Why were they after Lorelei? Because Lorelei became unpredictable after her relationship with Jane. She needed to be killed.

Why did Kirkland order his team to collect info from Jane's room? Because Bertram wanted to know how close Jane is. Kirkland studied everything just like Jane, and came up with the list.

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So, we know that Kirkland is with RJ. Yet, how to know if he is RJ, or some else is RJ? Simple.

The second link above explains the whole season 3 finale. We can clearly understand that season 3 finale was very well planned. It was meant to be that way. So, Bertram's role is critical, irreplacable by enything else. Bertram is in this too.

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At this point, one can say, both of them can be disciples of RJ. Could be right, but unlikely. These guys are very high profile. Involving someone else could mean blown covers.

Remember season 3 finale? When Jane told Bertram about making deal with Hightower, he hasitated for a second, then said OK, and just after Jane left, he picked his desk phone and pushed a button. I used to think, he is calling RJ. But no, he was calling Timothy or Kirkland to see if they could arrange a surprise party for Jane.

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Kirkland is Bertram's right hand. 

Kirkland kills Rebecca in CBI building. He collected Jane's RJ data for Bertram so that Bertram can come up with a list.

Remember the talk in Bertram's office with Kirkland after Lisbon leaves?

Kirkland: Can we trust her?
Bertram: Can we trust anyone?

Two murder buddies talking about whether they can trust Lisbon and Patrick to catch Lorelei.

Does this dialogue ring any bells?

When Jane was talking to the father from visualise farm, the father told Jane about a 50 year old guy calling the painter of smiley face "kid".  Father had talked to the man in farm about the face.

Father: What does it mean?
The Man: What does anything mean?

Maybe little Bertram and the old man were like Dexter and his father. The old man guided him, showed Bertram the path. Now, Bertram is mentor of Kirkland, just like he himself was once.

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In the end, before the end of this year, we will know that Bertram is RJ.

Bret would never help Jane about freeing Lorelei from prison. He would not sign his death contract.
Sheriff and Reede Smith, i won't even bother considering them.
Brett Partridge called Jane "jerk" behind him, not possible.
Ray Haffner, nope. Bret Stiles would know.

Take Bertram and Kirkland out of the RJ equation, and everything collapses. If you take Bertram out, you can't explain season 3 finale, and if you take Kirkland out, you can't explain killing Jason without questioning him and chasing Lorelei so badly.

Season 3 finale is the key, and we shall see. Bertram is Red John, and Kirkland is his right hand.

In season 1 final we can see a tea cup in front of the TV, where RJ could have watched Jane and Dumar....
Bertram (in german) is Anacyclus......you can make tea out of it..... 
Just a thought and sry for my bad english ;)

vanpelt married to wayne riggsby in " season 6 episode 3 wedding in red " ?                           http://www.enstarz.com/articles/23999/20130824/mentalist-season-6-spoilers-grace-van-pelt-wayne-rigs...

As many of you guys already know season 6 episode 1 the desert rose will be about gale and bob kirkland and patrick learning info about wether gale bertlam is in fact red john and if you didn't know already one suspect will die by the end of the episode....http://thementalist.wikia.com/wiki/The_Desert_Rose  also check this http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/494592/20130726/mentalist-season-6-spoilers-premiere-red-john.htm#.Uh......
sherriff mcallister shows up in episode 3 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3073036/ and gale bertram in episode 2 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3073034/ so is safe to think that bob kirkland gets killed on episode 1 because bob and gale are the only suspects that show up in that episode and only gale bertram is in the second episode....so if in fact bob gets killed and the sherriff shows up this early in the season i'm pretty sure he will no longer be a suspect thus leaving us with 5 suspects....i'm not putting bertram off the list just yet because the first few episodes are going to be about him,how the team reacts to him being a suspect and how patrick is going to learn information wether he is in fact rj or not.

omg ! did i read it right ? sam bosco is back in the season premier of the mentalist ??    http://www.aceshowbiz.com/tv/episodeguide/mentalist_the_s6_e01/

Terry Kinney

In extension to my theory on Gale Bertram below, I'd like to add that he seems to be the one person on the list, who really enjoys a challenge (a Red John trait). For example, in the episode where Jane is being held hostage, it's almost like he's testing Lisbon, to see how far she would go to protect Jane. After taking jurisdiction away from her, he sits back and waits for her next move (as if it was a chess game). In a way, it's almost like he's boasting, saying that he has Jane's life in his own hands, and he can easily influence and dictate what happens next. He's surprised then when Lisbon uses the media against him (his main flaw) but just like throughout the series, he generally respects anyone who can outplay him, and appears to really admire her actions(similar again to RJ who enjoys having worthy adversaries). Another point is, it was Bertram who informed LaRoche of Hightower's affair. Maybe she was was getting onto him somehow, and he felt threatened, so wanted rid of her. Being a showman, he had to do it theatrically in a way which could lead to Patrick somehow getting involved. Effectively his plan worked, because not only did he succeed in scaring off Hightower and remain anonymous, he also got to beat Jane again in another twisted battle of wits.
In the recent finale when Lisbon asks Jane how he knows that the murder was really  by RJ, Jane replies "because when it's him, he can feel it". When I first saw this, it took me right back to when Jane first meets Bertram. Straight away, Jane takes a disliking to Bertram and starts acting strangely..how many times does he turn down a case, because it doesn't feel right? Somehow I just feel it's connected, and that, that same gut instinct yelling out at him in the finale, was present when he first met RJ/ Bertram.
The meeting between Bertram and Lisbon (and Kirkland), was purposefully set up, in my opinion, so that people would start suspecting her to be an accomplice, and the tricks worked for some.  I think she's innocent and what Bob meant when he said "can we trust her" is that could they trust her to be telling the truth about Jane's progress in finding Red John. This would support my idea that Jane was trying and succeeding to worry RJ, by constantly hiding out in his attic, thus forcing Kirkland and Bertram to break rank and make the next move: break in and steal his research. Jane's on to them, I'm sure of it!

Finally, out of all the suspects, I think Bertram's the one that would shock the rest of the characters the most. Imagine your boss, a high ranking policeman, turning out to be the notorious serial killer you've been hunting for all these years! The reactions we'd see from Lisbon, the team etc, would make for amazing television. Plays out much better than a murderous sheriff or forensic tech which have all been done before eg. Dexter.
Thanks again for reading.

A few previous theories on this regarding Gale Bertram have really got me thinking and now I'm almost 100% sure he's our man. If we look back to the season 3 premiere, he shows up at a crime scene simply to talk to the cameras, as he has a fierce interest in public image- just like Red John: he has killed atleast 4 people, simply for being made to look bad on TV. Who better fits that persona than Bertram? When he meets Jane, he shakes his hand and calls him "Boy Wonder", which can't just be a coincidence, I'm pretty sure it's a clue that he has a connection with Jane's childhood and the carni lifestyle(could explain the memory, and the Lorelai death setting). Probably RJ's idea of a joke. People would argue about his appearance, but I think it's clear now that Rosalind's description is inaccurate. Jane obviously doesn't trust it or else why would Stiles, Smith, McAllister etc be on the list? I think it'll turn out that she lied to cover for him, because she's still in love with him. In the season 3 finale, the main thing that bothers me is how Jane doesn't click, that the only way Red John could have arranged the plan in the mall, is if Bertram is RJ or atleast in league with him. Only they and the team knew about the meeting! If you watch the scene in the mall again, notice how GB keeps looking over at Timothy Carter. It's also interesting how they both read the same newspaper days apart, a subtle clue from BH? With Todd Johnson's murder, obviously O'Laughlin killed him, but what if Bertram was also there to make sure he got the job done properly, there was a lot at stake after all! He later knew he had to sacrifice O'Laughlin(convenient slip of the word 'rope'), to lead Jane to Carter and save his own neck, but probably didn't bank on Jane killing his friend. Hence why in season 4 he wanted Jane jailed and was clearly angered. Ron Deutzch, the bald security guard, was an insurance policy..there to recover Carter's weapon if anything did happen and to show Jane just how much smarter he was than him. But if you look closely, early on in season 3, Ron is visible in amongst a group of Visualise members.  In the following episode, Haffner is given Lisbon's job ( probably hired by Bertram to watch over Jane), and it's later revealed he too is a Visualize member and a probable Rj associate...so there's a fine pattern there. It wouldn't surprise me if Bertram, being either a member or former member of Visualise, is given 'followers' by Bret Stiles or just recruits them on his own terms. Next there's the William Blake poem which he recites to Lisbon and La Roche. This proves how literate and well read he is and that he shares an obvious passion with RJ that isn't very common. Other small notes are he is very well dressed-always in a suit and tie, wedding ring on his left hand, well connected in a position of power, drinks tea whilst sitting with legs crossed like Jane, and is an avid fisherman. In his office there is a fish mug, a fishing ornament and a painting on his wall of the sea. Being a fisherman, GB must be experienced at gutting fish etc and so would easily have the required skills to be RJ. There's also Jason Lennon, his accomplice, who we also know loved fishing.

Then there's the mysterious business of him being all friendly and secretive with the murderer Bob Kirkland. It looks to me as if Kirkland is Bertram's trusted right hand man, his "good friend from the FBI". It's possible he ordered Kirkland to pull strings in order to get updates from Minelli on the case, and then when Minelli refused to cooperate anymore and retired, he took the job as director, so he could continue the spying mission himself. His position in the CBI allows him to give Kirkland the ropes in the Lorelai case. I'm confident he done this because he was worried and needed his best man on the job. He had to keep Lorelai and Lennon quiet, but obviously couldn't risk leading the case himself, or else it would be way  too suspicious.

 I think Kirkland asked Lennon if he recognised him simply because he needed the comfort of knowing that his identity as RJ's right hand man is safe, and that only they know. The line about "hoping that if he were in his shoes, there'd be a friend nearby to kill him quickly too" further indicates to me that he is only an accomplice and meant that if and when Jane catches him, he hopes RJ will kill him before he is arrested or before Jane can torture and painfully murder him. Regarding the Lorelai video, I'm sure RJ guessed the list based on the knowledge he already had and made a provisional video. After killing Lorelai, he probably got Kirkland to break in and make sure it was accurate (could then easily edit any bits he liked). I'm excited however to find out what Jane's plan is regarding the broken toothpick..I think maybe Jane just wanted to get his attention, worry him into making a bad move.

This may prove unpopular but i think at this stage, the least likely suspect is the biggest favourite with the fans, Brett Partridge. People should forget about the voice, because it's not that simple,  most likely Red John uses a voice modifier or else I'm sure Partridge would have been caught by now? Anyway, it makes sense that you wouldn't pick the obvious candidate, from the very beginning, to be your shows main antagonist, but opt to shock the fans with a not too obvious but very viable suspect like Bertram or say Haffner for example. The main thing for me though is the line "if there's one thing I can't tolerate, it's cheap imitations of my work". If you watch Partridge he takes great pleasure in the work done by the imitators, and gets excited by it, not Red John like at all! He just seems too unprofessional. Also, I can't see Red John just standing back and taking insults so easily from Jane, with barely a reaction. Remember he's a showman, an artist, who hates being demeaned by anyone, let alone his arch rival. He has killed for less!
My predictions for season 6 are, we will see the deaths of a few off of the list such as Kirkland and Haffner, and most likely find out who red john is before the characters and then watch on from both perspectives. I also think we might see RJ striking out at one or more of the team members such as Rigsby or Van Pelt, who are both rumored to be leaving unfortunately. In my head I have the perfect ending already (for me)..after a great mental battle of words(or wouldnt it be great to see Jane vs Bertram/RJ play each other at poker, after Jane taught him so well), I can envisage an emotional Jane unable to find it in himself to finish off Red John, but Lisbon steps forward and kills him, after all these years of her saying she's the law, and he'll be tried in court, blah blah..then they can finally be together!
Anyway thats my theory, thanks for reading this! I can't wait till season 6, Sept 29th!!!....most likely I'll be well off, but we'll soon find out! Greetings from bonnie Scotland :-)