The Blacklist

Chapter 294: The Case of the Navy's Codebreaker

On December 12, during the Christmas and New Year holidays, the post office received an urgent case from the CTU headquarters - a Pentagon codebreaker died at home! The case involved national security, and CTU had to intervene.

Donald immediately led the SER agents to Baltimore, but when they arrived at the scene, they met the Gibbs team of NCIS. The dead cryptographer was a female Navy lieutenant named Lara Hill, and the Navy believed that the investigation should be conducted by its own people.

Gibbs did not seem to be unwilling. Unlike other Navy personnel, he had cooperated with the Post Office many times and knew the capabilities of Donald and others. Moreover, this case was somewhat sensitive, and CTU was involved in the name of national security, so the Navy could not stop it.

Seeing that only Donald, Nawabi, Mira and others were there, Tony couldn't help but ask, "Nawabi, isn't Agent Elizabeth here?"

Nawabi wanted to laugh when he saw the boy's expression. Hearing this, he curled his lips and said, "Why, do you miss her? She doesn't miss you!"

"That's not the case!" Tony didn't seem embarrassed at all. "Elizabeth gets along well with old Duck, I'm asking on his behalf!"

Dak, who was examining the body, looked back at him and sneered, "Thank you!"

Everyone couldn't help laughing when they heard this. If the environment wasn't inappropriate, they would have burst into laughter.

At this time, Gibbs had already walked out of the house and was introducing the confirmed case to Donald. He didn't hear what Tony said, otherwise he would definitely slap him on the head again!
"Lieutenant Lareau Hill was supposed to attend a work meeting this morning, but he didn't show up until the meeting started, and his cell phone couldn't be reached..." Gibbs said, "So the Navy contacted NCIS and asked us to look for him, but when Tony and Sierra arrived, they found him dead in his home!
"Dake has confirmed that Lieutenant Hill was shot in the right temple. The bullet penetrated her skull and exited from the left side of her head, hitting a book on the bookshelf next to the wall...

"The lieutenant's body was lying on the sofa to the left. On the floor to his right was a Kahr P9 pistol, which was definitely not the lieutenant's weapon. But whether it was the murder weapon or not still needs to be confirmed after inspection.

"In addition, there is 60,000 yuan in cash on the desk in the room. The source of this money cannot be determined at present, but it is certain that this cannot be the lieutenant's legal income..."

Donald asked, "You mean that Lieutenant Hill may have illegal income, and given the nature of her job, there is a possibility of betrayal?"

Gibbs remained noncommittal and said, "Although there is no other evidence, this possibility cannot be ruled out."

Donald thought for a moment and said, "Then let's go to where Lieutenant Hill works!"
-
The department where Lieutenant Hill worked was a secret unit under the Naval Operations Department, located in a secret small building within the Annapolis Naval Base. Gibbs, Donald and others had to pass several checkpoints before they were able to enter.

The head of the decoding team was Colonel Dorn Skype. He already knew about Lieutenant Hill's death, but he was not too surprised when he saw them. He claimed that although Hill was a specially recruited cryptographer, she had been suffering from anxiety for a long time. The reason why it was not recorded in her medical records was because the department wanted to protect her. However, her condition had worsened recently, and he was considering suspending her from work to recuperate...

"You mean, Lieutenant Hill committed suicide?" Donald asked directly.

"Of course I don't know the specific situation, but my judgment is: it is very likely." said the colonel.

Gibbs looked at the people working in the hall outside the supervisor's office and asked, "Colonel, what is the main work of your department? Oh, I'm not asking about the specific content, just the general direction of the work." The colonel was silent for a while, and finally revealed, "Our main work is to crack the naval communication codes of some hostile countries... Well, that's all I can say."

Gibbs nodded and continued to ask, "How are the results?"

"The results are still very good!" The colonel said with a little pride, "Those who can enter this department are all professionals, and the work is still very effective..."

Just then, a naval captain knocked on the door and came in. He ignored Gibbs and Donald, saluted, handed over a folder, and said, "Colonel, it's C again!"

The colonel took the folder and said helplessly, "I understand. Go ahead!" He threw the folder aside without even looking at it.

Gibbs and Donald were both a little surprised and looked at each other. The latter couldn't help but ask, "Colonel, what does C condition mean? Why don't you even take a look?"

The colonel looked at him but didn't answer, obviously not wanting to say anything.

Donald said unhappily: "Colonel, you have seen my ID. CTU is the national counter-terrorism department. I personally have level 4 clearance, which should be enough to understand your work... I now formally ask you to answer my questions!"

Seeing that Donald was arguing based on his duties and authority, Gibbs naturally did not stop him and looked at the colonel.

The colonel was stunned when he heard this, then he smiled bitterly and said: "The C here stands for change. The C condition naturally means that the situation has changed..." Then he explained the specific situation.

The decoding team's work has always been fruitful, but since a year ago, one of their important tasks has been plagued by strange things - every time they cracked the Venezuelan Navy's communication code, the other party would immediately change the code within 48 hours at most, making all their previous work invalid. This is situation C!

Gibbs and Donald were both shocked when they heard this - it was obvious that there was a traitor leaking information! At this time, they both thought of a possibility, could the deceased Lieutenant Hill be the traitor? If she was, why did she commit suicide? Could it be that she had a change of heart? -
At noon, Donald and others returned to the post office. While eating in the restaurant, he told the key detectives about the case and the doubts in his mind. Gina, Elizabeth, Nawabi and other key detectives all had their own guesses.

After listening to this, Carrie said, "If Lieutenant Hill was a traitor, there was no need for her to commit suicide without the danger of being discovered. Moreover, $60,000 is too little to buy important intelligence involving a country's military."

Donald said: "Lee, the colonel said Hill has anxiety disorder..."

"Well, but that's just what he said!" Carrie said, "A technical officer working in a confidential military department has anxiety disorder but no medical records. Do you believe it?"

(End of this chapter)