The Blacklist

Chapter 63: If you still persist in your wrongdoing, you will be punished
Carrie took everyone to the Turkish restaurant where Reddington had treated them last time. They asked for a large private room and let everyone eat as much as they wanted, with plenty of meat, vegetables, and wine.

While on the road, Carrie asked everyone to call their significant other. He is now a couple with Gina, Donald is a couple with Audrey, Mira and Aram don't know, Elizabeth has Tom, but the first two claimed not to have one, and the latter said that Tom is on a business trip and can't come.

During the meal, Elizabeth tried not to think about the unhappiness between her and Tom, and she was still immersed in the case. She pulled Carrie to talk, "Lee, do you think Cooper really tortured Rifkin?"

"It's very likely!" Carrie did not shy away from this point. "I've read the case file of Rifkin. His crimes are very serious. Treason, collaboration with terrorists, and massacre of civilians, any one of which is enough to sentence him to death!
"You should understand Cooper's character. He would never beat or torture an ordinary person or an innocent person! More than a decade ago, when his temper was even more explosive, beating up a man like Rifkin was nothing. I can understand that!"

At this time, everyone around stopped talking and listened to their conversation carefully.

"But what if Rifkin is innocent?" Elizabeth said unconvinced.

"Ha! Liz, how do you know he is innocent?" Carrie sometimes really doesn't like this kid's stubbornness. Because she doesn't think flexibly, she will cause countless troubles in the future. If it weren't for Reddington to clean up the mess, who knows how many times she would die and how many people she would kill!

"But he appealed!" Elizabeth said this and then she felt something was wrong.
"Ha! Is there any death row inmate who would not appeal?" Carrie said sternly. "Liz, your mentality is wrong now. Just because Rifkin appealed to the so-called 'Supreme Judge', do you think he is innocent and Cooper, the target of his accusation, is guilty? In that case, you also think that the 'Supreme Judge' is just and those missing judicial personnel are guilty?"

"I'm not..." Elizabeth was confused and didn't know how to express herself.

"Liz, you should reflect on yourself!" Carrie continued, "As Chinese young people often say, you are a little too proud now! More than half a year ago, Reddington surrendered to the FBI and designated you as his only interlocutor from the beginning. You also completed the task well enough and were promoted to Level 2 Agent in just three months, far ahead of your classmates...

"In this situation, have you ever reflected on yourself and asked yourself whether all this is your own fault?

“What do you have to be proud of?

"You are now beginning to doubt your superiors because of a death row inmate's appeal?
"As colleagues and comrades, we care about you and want to help you, but we don't want you to become arrogant!"

Elizabeth, who had never been criticized like this before, was completely stunned. She covered her mouth, tears welled up in her eyes and she was about to cry.

The people around were also frightened. They had never seen Carrie lose her temper before, and they didn't dare to speak for a moment.

Audrey, who had just joined the post office service department, couldn't help herself when she saw Elizabeth's look. She was about to stand up and speak, but was stopped by Donald beside her. He signaled her with a serious look not to speak.

Seeing Elizabeth's expression, Kerry also breathed a sigh of relief and continued, "Liz, me, Don, Mira, Aram, Gina, including Audrey who just joined, none of us would want to harm you. Do you believe this?"

Although Elizabeth was shocked by the scolding, she still knew this and nodded immediately. "Let's analyze it objectively and look at it rationally, okay?" Carrie said, "Think back, when Reddington gave you this case, did he say or hint that this 'Supreme Judge' is absolutely just?"

Elizabeth shook her head.

"Then have you ever thought about why Reddington gave you the role of the 'Supreme Judge' of this case as a member of the blacklist?" Carrie continued to ask.

Hmm? Elizabeth had never thought about this! In fact, no one else in the room had thought about it either.

"Based on the previous blacklisted characters, we have not encountered an innocent person." Carrie said, "So can we assume that Reddington put the 'Supreme Judge' on the blacklist because he has committed a crime or is committing a crime?"

Elizabeth opened her eyes wide and nodded subconsciously. The same was true for the others. Everyone was attracted by Carrie's words.

"If we continue to make this assumption, could it be that the always 'powerful' Reddington already knows that the 'Supreme Judge' is going to 'take over' Rifkin's case this time, thereby implicating our boss Cooper?" Carrie further hypothesized.

Everyone's eyes lit up and they nodded in unison. This was very likely!

Carrie continued: "If this assumption is true, then what is the purpose of Reddington handing this case over to us? I think, no matter from which aspect, he would not want you, Liz, to assume that Cooper is guilty right away! Because for Reddington, keeping Cooper is in his best interest!
"This is because although Cooper is honest and selfless, he has been forced to accept and get used to working with this Red Devil for such a long time. If someone else comes in, the result will be uncertain.

"So, in this case, Reddington handed the case to us because he was sure of one thing: whether Cooper tortured Rifkin or not, Rifkin's death sentence was not wrong. He was indeed a traitor, he did cooperate with terrorists, and he killed innocent civilians!

“Liz, you can ask Mira now. She is from the CIA. How will they treat traitors?
"Compared with the CIA's methods, what's the point of beating? If you question Cooper's criminality because of this, it's really unfair. You have to know that we were in a state of war at that time!

"So, do you understand now, Liz?"

Mira didn't say anything, but nodded heavily at Elizabeth, proving that Carrie was right.

No one else spoke, digesting Carrie's words. This time, it was not only a shock to Elizabeth, but also to their minds. Everyone was thinking about it.

After a long while, Elizabeth wiped her tears, nodded and said, "Thank you, Lee, I understand!"

(End of this chapter)