Elise Vogelson (The Mentalist)

The evil Elise Vogelson

Elise Vogelson (Mariette Hartley) is the main villainess from "Red Lacquer Nail Polish," episode 5.15 of The Mentalist (airdate March 3, 2013). She is an heiress and charity worker who was believed to have been murdered in the beginning of the episode, when her burned body was found in the living room of the mansion.

In actuality, Elise had embezzled all of the money from the Soldier's Home charity that she was working for, and later faked her death to avoid suspicion. As part of her plan, the evil Elise drugged Lissie Calhoun (a nurse who served in Vietnam, and who Elise considered a friend) and later set her on fire, meaning that Lissie was the one found burned to death. She later convinced Cayce Robbins to hide her on her boat, doing so by claiming that her family was going to put her in a home, while also keeping her criminal actions hidden. Afterwards, Elise began turning heel against Cayce, as she planned to kill her once she successfully escaped.

However, Patrick Jane ended up finding Elise on Cayce's boat after tossing a lit marine flare into the lower deck. Elise climbed up with the stolen money, and was later arrested, and at CBI, Elise explained that she took the money because it was hers and she could do what she wanted with it, and she didn't want her nephew, Curtis, telling her how to spend her money. She stated that she gave Lissie a "peaceful death," while appearing to mock her kinship with Cayce, claiming that Cayce thought of her as the mother she never had. All the while, Cayce's interrogation revealed Elise's planned heel turn against her unwitting cohort, who had no idea about Elise's past villainy.