Everyone keeps forgetting to bring up one important detail from this season--which I believe has great significance. When Patrick arrives at the crime scene, and sees Lisbon with blood on her face he immediately wipes it off and seems to keep the cloth. I believe (regardless of if he does or does not think Partridge is Red John), he is doing it to test the blood and see if it's actual real blood, or if it belongs to someone else entirely. If it turns out it's not real blood, then it means Partridge wasn't killed or even injured. The same would be correct if the blood winds up being from someone or something else. If there was no significance to that scene, why would it have ever taken place? Unlike potential red herrings like the whistling and phobia scenes, this scene in particular seems to have a level of importance attached to it. What exactly *IS* that importance? This part alone makes me believe it's Partridge.