The Blacklist

Chapter 244 Modern Butterfly is not a fairy tale
Reddington was not involved in the previous events in California, but with his great powers, he soon learned about these things. He came to Carrie with red wine and delicious food, hoping to hear a more detailed story.

On the evening of April 4, at the dinner table of Carrey's house, Reddington told a story about a witch who would live with abandoned children deep in the forest, paint them with colorful colors, and let them enjoy eternal life and happiness...

Except for Carrie, Gina and Elizabeth have all heard of the fairy tale called "Ms. Ambrossa", but of course they don't believe it and think it's just a story.

However, Reddington took out that day's newspaper, and the front-page report was "Boy once confirmed dead is alive and well": A child who disappeared while camping four years ago was found in a small supermarket in a remote area. He had patterns painted on his face, and his feet were covered in blood because he was not wearing shoes. He was stealing food.

Reddington believes that the child was taken away by a "witch" in real life, but she did not do it for the child's eternal life and happiness, but for other purposes. He hopes that SER will investigate this.

The next day was Monday. As soon as Elizabeth got to work, she reported the matter to Donald. Since it involved issues involving children, SER took it very seriously and immediately began an investigation.

Soon, the detectives discovered that three similar incidents had occurred recently. The three children were confirmed dead after disappearing due to various accidents. They were later found alive. They all had some religious patterns painted on their faces. However, because these children suffered from cognitive impairments, they were unable to tell what had happened.

The careful Nawabi discovered that the pattern on the child's face was drawn with fingers, so he decided to extract and compare fingerprints. Donald took Elizabeth to the hospital to evaluate the surviving boy Ethan Linley, but found that the child was autistic and had little response to external things.

Just when the two were at their wits' end, Aram called and said that in the six months before Ethan's disappearance, Ethan's parents had contacted an adoption agency many times, wanting to give Ethan away or send him to a welfare institution...

Donald and Elizabeth began to suspect Ethan's parents, so they went to the adoption agency to investigate, only to find that Noah Shuster, who was in charge of adopting children from the Disabled Children's Federation, had left inexplicably, as if he was avoiding them.
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While SER was busy investigating the missing children case, Reddington was sitting in Carrie's office drinking tea, and he kept complaining that the tea was not good enough and that the sofa was too hard today...

Kerry looked at the old man speechlessly. He couldn't help but said, "Old Lei, I just used your private plane once. Do you have to come here to cause trouble again and again? Tell me, what do you want? I'll see if I can repay you for this favor!"

"Haha, interacting with smart people saves time!" Reddington exclaimed, "I want you to help me find someone, Vasilya Pasha."

"Well, that former KGB female agent!" Carrie frowned and said, "She seems to be quite old. Are you interested in her too?"

"What are you thinking about?" Reddington said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "But I still want to express my admiration again. You are really amazing. You really know everything! However, what I need this time is to know her current location."

"Why are you looking for her?" Carrie drank her tea and felt that today's Pu'er tea did taste a little worse.

"Because I was once imprisoned in Ankara with her husband, Siber Pasha, and I promised Siber to take care of his family..." Reddington started talking.

"Tsk! Your excuse is as ridiculous as if you were a saint!" Carrie sneered, "When Vasilya left the KGB, the Soviet Union had not yet collapsed! 25 years later you said you were going to find her and take care of her, do you think I would believe you?" "Well, I knew I couldn't hide it from you!" Reddington said helplessly, "She kept some former Soviet documents, which may contain content related to Liz's mother Katarina..."

Kerry nodded, knowing that this time it was the truth, and said, "I think she should be a teacher in a special education school in Maryland...well, using her sign language skills to help those children!"

"Thank you!" Reddington stood up immediately. "Actually, I should have thought that her husband and daughter are both deaf. After she stops being an agent, she won't have many career options..."
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Donald and Elizabeth found important clues in Noah's computer, and discovered that among the adoptions he handled, more than a dozen children died or disappeared within a year...

At the same time, Alam analyzed the fingerprints extracted from Ethan's facial pattern and found that seven of them belonged to the missing children.

Donald ordered a warrant for Noah Shuster, and based on Ethan's habit of drawing butterflies, notified the FBI and DCPD (Metropolitan Police Department) to check possible locations where the dozen children might be hiding, focusing on places such as woods.

Elizabeth took a photo of the butterfly Ethan drew in the hospital, and Alam and Nawabi found out that it was a rare carnivorous gray butterfly based on its characteristics. By tracking the sale of larvae, they found a suspicious location.

Donald led the team and found the dozen missing children in a cabin in the forest. After patient questioning, they learned that these children were usually well taken care of, but when they were 12 years old, everyone would paint patterns on their faces, wrap them in linen and throw them into a deep well in the forest. Then groups of butterflies would fly out. "Mother Theo" told them: This means they have gained eternal life!

They found the deep well where the children had been, and discovered the bodies of two men and one woman who had just fallen to their death, as well as the remains of as many as five children!

After forensic identification, the bodies were found to be Noah, his wife and youngest son, and the remains were all children who had disappeared several years ago.

Although the case was closed, there were still many mysteries that had not been solved, which made everyone very confused.
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That night, Carrey invited the SER agents who solved the case to dinner, and also called Reddington to explain the inside story.

At first, Old Ray was hesitant, but after being drunk by Carrie, Donald and Elizabeth, he told the truth.

Many years ago, Noah's two sons were fishing when their boat capsized. The elder son, who was an excellent swimmer and a former swimming champion, drowned, but the younger son, who was mentally retarded, survived. This made Noah's wife believe that the younger son killed the older one. So Noah and his wife started a new life, helping those incomplete angels to "live forever" in their childhood.

When Noah realized that the truth had been revealed, he ran to the forest to find his wife. When the two quarreled about what to do, the youngest son understood one thing: his parents did not love him, so he knocked them out, threw them into the well, and jumped in himself, hoping that the family could start over and live forever together!

(End of this chapter)