Chapter 5 Chapter Four

Clarice Starling was excited, she was exhausted, she was just running by willpower.Some of what Lecter says about her is true, and some of it just sounds close to the truth.For a moment, she felt a sense of strangeness dissipate in her mind, as if a bear broke into the camper and pulled all the things off the shelves. What he said about her mother made her angry, and she had to get rid of that anger.This is work. She was panting in her old Pinto across the street from the mental hospital.The windows of the car were covered with fog, and people on the sidewalk could not see in, and she gained a little silence.

Raspail.She remembered the name.He was one of Lecter's patients and one of his victims.She had only one night to read Lecter's background material.The volume of dossier material is vast, and Raspail is just one victim among many, and she needs to read the details. Starling wanted to hurry up, but she knew it was her own fault.The Raspail case had been closed years ago, no one was in danger anymore, she had plenty of time.It is best to learn more about the situation and listen to some advice before taking the next step. Crawford would probably not let her do it and leave it to someone else.She has to seize this opportunity.

She tried calling him from a phone booth, only to find that he was on a House Appropriations subcommittee seeking earmarks for the Justice Department. She could have gotten the details of the case from the Homicide Squad of the Baltimore Police Department, but murder wasn't a charge for the FBI, and she knew they'd take it from her right away, no doubt about it. She drove back to Kundik, to the Behavioral Sciences department.Inside were the friendly brown tartan curtains, and the gray volumes full of wickedness and sin.She sat there until the evening, when the last secretary was gone, and she was still there, cranking the crank handle of the old viewer, going through the microfilms about Lecter one by one.The unruly machine glowed like a will-o'-the-wisp in a dark room.The text on the photo and the negative images moved past her focused face in dense layers.

Benjamin Rene Raspail, white male, 46 years old, first flute player of the Baltimore Philharmonic.He was one of Dr. Hannibal Lecter's psychiatric patients. On March 22, 1975, he was absent from a performance in Baltimore. On March 25, his body was found sitting in a pew in a small country church; Not far from Falls Church, Virginia.All he wore was a white tie and swallowtail eyewear.An autopsy found that Raspail's heart had been punctured and that his thymus and pancreas were missing. Clarice Starling had grown up knowing a lot about meat processing—although she didn't want to know so much that she recognized the missing organs as the thymus and the pancreas.

The Baltimore Homicide Squad believes the two items were on the menu for a dinner Lecter hosted for the president and conductor of the Baltimore Philharmonic the night after Raspail disappeared. Dr. Hannibal-Lecter claimed to know nothing about these matters.The director and conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra said they could no longer recall what was served at Dr. Lecter's dinner table, but Lecter's table is famous for its exquisite dishes, and he has written extensively for Gourmet magazine. . Later, the director of the Philharmonic went to a holistic neurological sanatorium in Basel for anorexia and some problems related to alcohol dependence.

Raspail is Lecter's ninth known victim, according to Baltimore police. Raspail died without a will. On the issue of inheritance; his relatives sued each other, and the newspapers paid attention to it for several months. Later, the public gradually lost interest. Raspail's relatives joined forces with the families of other victims of Lecter's practice to win a lawsuit to have the errant psychiatrist's files and tapes destroyed.Their reasoning was that there was no telling what embarrassing secrets he might reveal, and that the case file was a document of evidence. The court appointed Raspail's attorney, Freddie-Special, as the executor of his estate.

To gain access to the car, Starling had to apply to the lawyer.A lawyer might protect Raspail's reputation, so, given enough advance notice, he might destroy evidence to shield his late client. Starling liked to grab an idea and use it immediately.She needs to listen to other people's opinions, and she needs to get approval from above.She was alone in the Behavioral Sciences department and could use the place however she wanted.In the address book, she found the Crawford home phone number. She didn't hear the phone ring at all, but his voice suddenly appeared, very low and calm.

"Jack Crawford." "I'm Clarice Starling. I hope you're not at dinner...." There was no sound from the other party, so she could only continue, "Lecter told me something about the Raspail case today, and I'm in the office Going to track it down. He told me what was in Raspail's car and I'd have to go through his lawyer to see it. Tomorrow is Saturday and there's no classes, so I just wanted to ask you if you—" "Starling, do you remember what I told you about Lecter's news?" Crawford's voice was extremely low. "I'll give you a report at nine on Sunday."

"Execute, Starling. Just do it and forget about it." "Yes, sir. " The dial tone stung her ears.The pain spread to her face again, causing her eyes to burst into flames "Fucking shit!" she said, "You old bastard! You son of a bitch! Get Miggs to spray on you and see if you like it!" Freshly washed and dressed in FBI cadet pajamas, Starling was working on the second draft of her report.At this time, her roommate Adeleji Mapp returned from the library.Mapp's face was brown, thickly lined, and apparently healthy, which was more attractive in her day.

Adeleji Mapp could see the weariness on her face. "What were you doing today, girl?" Mapp was always asking questions that didn't seem to matter whether they had answers or not. "Coaxed a lunatic with sweet words and fucked all my semen." "I wish I had time for my social life too—I don't know how you manage that, and reading." Starling found herself laughing.Adeleji Mapp laughed at the little joke.Starling didn't stop laughing, she heard herself laughing, laughing, far away.Through her tears, Starling saw that Mapp looked strangely old, with a sad smile.