Chapter 40 Chapter Thirty-Nine

In normal times, Clarice Starling might have looked at Crawford's house in Arlington with curiosity, but the news about Dr. Lecter's escape on the car radio made her curiosity go away. Gone. Her lips were numb, her scalp was sore, she just drove mechanically.She saw the tidy 1950s ranch house, but she didn't look closely. She just thought about it a little bit. Was Bella lying there in the lighted and curtained place on the left?The doorbell sounded too loud. Crawford heard the doorbell ring a second time before opening the door.He was wearing a fat sweater and was making a phone call. "It's Copley in Memphis," he said.He motioned for her to follow and led her across the house, muttering something into the phone as he went.

In the kitchen, a nurse took a small bottle from the refrigerator and held it up to the light.Crawford raised an eyebrow at the nurse; she shook her head, she didn't need his help. He led Starling down the three steps to his study, which had apparently been converted from a double garage.There is a large space here, with a sofa and a few chairs, a computer terminal on a messy table, and a green light shining next to an antique astrolabe.The carpet felt as if it had been laid on top of concrete.Crawford raised his hand for her to sit down. He covered the microphone with his hand. "Starling, this is bullshit, but did you hand anything to Lecter in Memphis?"

"No." "Didn't give him anything in kind?" "Nothing." "You brought him things like the pictures in his cell." "I didn't give it to him at all. The things are still in my bag! He gave me the case file, and that is the only thing passed between us." Crawford tucked the phone under his chin. "Copley, that's total bullshit! I want you to relentlessly deal with that villain, and deal with him now! Go straight to the boss, go straight to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Be sure to keep in touch with the hotline for any other updates, Barr Stein is on guard. Yes." He switched off the phone and stuffed it into his pocket.

"Have some coffee, Starling? Or a Coke?" So what, what's the deal with passing things to Dr. Lecter? "Chilton said you must have given Lecter something to undo the ratchets on the handcuffs. He said you didn't mean it, just ignorance." Sometimes Crawford got angry Those little eyes are like the eyes of a sea turtle.He saw how she reacted to this. "Is Chilton trying to embarrass you, Starling? Is he like that?" "Perhaps. I drink coffee, no milk and sugar, please." He went to the kitchen, and she took a deep breath and looked around the room.If you are living in a student dormitory or army barracks, it is very comfortable to feel at home.Although Starling felt the ground move under her feet, she felt better when she realized that the Crawfords lived in the house.

Here comes Crawford.Wearing bifocals and carrying two cups, he came down the steps cautiously.He was half an inch shorter than usual because of his heelless shoes.Their eyes were almost on level as Starling got up to get her coffee.He smelled of soap, and his hair looked shaggy and gray. "Copley says they haven't found the ambulance yet. The police are out all over the South." She shook her head. "I don't know any of the details. The radio just came on with the latest news—Dr. Lecter killed two policemen and escaped." "It's two correctional police officers." Crawford pressed a button on the computer, and words crawled out on the screen immediately, "The names are Boyle and Pembry. Have you dealt with them?"

She nodded. "They . Polite. Come with me, now, he said. He had liver spots on his hands and forehead, dead now, dead gray under the spots. Suddenly, Starling had to put down the coffee in her hand.She took a deep breath into her lungs and stared at the ceiling for a moment. "How did he escape?" "Copley says he got away in an ambulance, and we're still looking. How's the blotter thing going?" According to Krendler's instructions, Starling spent the second half of the day and evening identifying the colored wrapping paper with Pluto's dog through the Scientific Analysis Section. "Nothing. They managed to find a matching shipment in the archives of the Drug Enforcement Agency, but that thing is ten years old." It came out better. "

"But that's really blotter acid." "Yes. How did he escape, Mr. Crawford?" "Want to know?" She nodded. "Then I'll tell you. They put Lecter in the ambulance by mistake. They thought it was Pembry, badly wounded." "Is he wearing Pembry's uniform? They're about the same size." "He put on Pembry's uniform, part of Pembry's face, about a pound torn from Boyle's body. He covered Pembry's with a waterproof mattress cover and sheets from his cell. The body was wrapped to keep it from dripping blood, and he stuffed the body on top of the elevator. He put on his uniform, packed it up, lay down on the floor, and fired a few shots into the ceiling, making them run wild. I don't know if he was How to deal with it, maybe it was tucked into the back of the pants. The ambulance came, and there were policemen with guns everywhere. The staff on the ambulance quickly entered the building and did what they were usually trained to do under gunfire Son - insert the airway, wrap the bandage on the most serious injury, pressurize to stop the bleeding, and then transport the person out of there quickly. They did their duty, but the ambulance never drove to the hospital, and the police are still looking for a car .I don't have a soft spot for the paramedics. Copley said they were playing the dispatcher's tapes. The ambulance got called a few times. They thought Lecter called the ambulance station himself before he shot, so he You don't have to lie there too long. Dr. Lecter likes to have fun."

Starling had never heard a snarl in Crawford's speech before.Because she associates fierceness with weakness, Crawford's performance terrifies her. "Dr. Lecter's escape doesn't mean he's lying," Starling said. "Of course, he's lying to someone—either us or Senator Martin—but maybe he won't." Lying on both counts. He told Senator Martin it was Billy Rubin and claimed that was all he knew. He told me it was some guy who fancied he was transsexual. The last thing he said to me was like Yeah, 'just do that half arch again.' He was talking about sex change and then-"

"I know, I see the summary you wrote. We can't move on to that until we get the names from the hospital. Allen Bloom went to the head of the department himself. They say they're looking, and I I just have to believe it." "Mr. Crawford, are you in trouble?" "I'm on private leave," Crawford said. "The FBI, the Narcotics Enforcement Agency, and the 'non-staff' from the Attorney General's office—referring to Krendler—formed a new dedicated investigation team." "Who is the immediate boss?" "In terms of position, it's John Gorby, Assistant Director of the FBI. Let's just say, he and I have a close consultative relationship. John's a good guy. How are you? Are you in trouble? "

"Krendler asked me to turn in my ID card and pistol and report back to school." "That's all he did before you went to see Lecter. Starling, he sent a scathing letter to the Office of Professional Responsibility this afternoon. The letter 'without prejudice' asked the Academy to suspend your studies, yes No new assessment of your suitability to continue serving. This is a despicable slap in the face. Shootings head coach John Bloom saw this letter at the Quintico faculty meeting a few moments ago. He gave them a beating and gave I hung up the phone." "How bad is it?"

"You're eligible for a hearing. I'll vouch for you if you're fit for the job, that's enough. But if you're going to spend any more time outside, no matter what the findings are at the hearing, you're going to come back. Yuan Yi. Do you know what will happen if it goes back to the pot?" "Of course I know, sending you back to the local office that recruited you, starting from filing reports and making coffee for people, all the way to regaining the opportunity to attend classes." "I can guarantee that there will be a place for you in the next class, but if you miss any more classes, I can't prevent them from calling you back." "So I'm going back to school; stop doing it, or..." "yes." "What do you want me to do?" "Your job used to be dealing with Lecter. You did it. I don't want to put you back on the job. It might take you half a year, or more." "How is Catherine Martin?" "He's had her for almost forty-eight hours--forty-eight hours at midnight. If we don't get him, he's likely to do it to-morrow or the next day, just like last time." "Lecter isn't everything to us, either." "So far they've found six William Rubins, all of them with a history of one sort or another, and none that look alike. There's not a single Billy Rubin on the subscriber list for Insect Magazine. The Knife Makers Federation is aware of about five cases of ivory anthrax in the last ten years. The rest are yet to be verified. See what else? Klaus has not been identified - not yet. INTERPOL Reports say Marseilles has issued a wanted warrant for a Norwegian seafarer who is still at large - 'Klaus Bergatterland', whatever you want to call it. Norway is looking for his dental records to get to Time teleport. If we can get something from the hospital, and you have time, you can help with that. Starling?" "What, Mr. Crawford?" "Go back to school." "If you didn't want me to go after him, you shouldn't have taken me into that undertaker, Mr. Crawford." "Yes," said Crawford, "I don't think I should have taken you. But we wouldn't have found the insect that way. Leave your pistol alone, Kundy's safe enough." , but you must carry a weapon any time you leave Kundik Base until Lecter is captured or killed." "What about you? He hates you, I mean, he's been thinking about it for a while." "Many people in many prisons have thought about me, Starling. He might have thought about it one day recently, but he's too busy right now. Getting out of the cage is a comfort, and he wouldn't want to waste his time like that." onto me, and the place is safer than it looks." The phone in Crawford's pocket rang.The one on the table also made a low sound, and the indicator light flashed on and off.He listened for a while, said "OK" and hung up. "They found the ambulance in the underground parking lot at the Memphis airport." He shook his head. "It was terrible. The paramedics were in the back of the car. Dead, both dead." Crawford took off Glasses, find a handkerchief to wipe off the glasses. "Starling, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History called Burroughs looking for you. It's the Pilcher guy. They're finishing identifying that insect soon, and I want you to write a 302 on it. Report, signed and kept as a permanent file. You found this insect, followed up on it, and I will write it on the record. Can you do this?" Starling was extremely tired. "Of course," she said. "Leave your car in the garage, and Jeff will drive you back to Quintico when you're done." On the steps she turned to look at the lighted and drawn place where the nurse was watching, and then she looked back at Crawford. "I was thinking of you two, Mr. Crawford." "Thank you, Starling," he said.