Chapter 53 Chapter 52

Frederica.The three-story house of the Baimer family was desolate and dilapidated. The roof and wall panels were covered with asphalt.The self-growth maple trees in the gutter have grown quite well and withstood the cold winter.The windows facing north are covered with plastic sheets. In a small living room, a middle-aged woman is sitting on a rug, playing with a baby; a small heater keeps the room warm. "My wife," Bamel said as they crossed the room, "we just got married for Christmas." Hi.Starling said.The woman probably smiled from her direction. It was cold again in the corridor.Waist-high boxes are piled up everywhere, taking up the space completely, leaving only aisles between each other for people to pass through.Cardboard boxes chock full of lampshades, can lids, picnic food baskets, back issues of Reader's Digest and National Geographic, heavy old tennis rackets, sheets and pillowcases, a box of dartboards, And car seat covers made of artificial fiber, printed with a plaid pattern from the 1950s, and smelled strongly of mouse urine.

"We're moving soon," Mr. Bamel said. The things by the windows were faded by the sun.The boxes have been piled there for many years, and over time, the middle part has bulged out.A few rugs were strewn about across the room, worn through. Starling followed Frederica's father up the stairs, the sun dappled on the banisters.His clothes smelled stale in the cold air.She could see sunlight streaming through the caved-in ceiling at the top of the stairwell, and the boxes stacked on the landing were covered with plastic sheets. Frederica's room was small, under the eaves on the third floor.

"Do you still need me?" "Come on, I want to talk to you later, Mr. Bamer. How is Frederica's mother?" The record says "deceased," but it doesn't say when. "What do you mean by asking how she is? She died when Frederica was twelve." "I see." "Did you just think that was Frederica's mother downstairs? I told you we got married at Christmas. That's what you thought, right? Girl, I think you cops are always talking to It's a habit to deal with people who are different from us. She doesn't know Frederica at all."

"Mr. Baimer, is this room basically the same as it was when Frederica left?" His inner anger had now swam elsewhere: "Yes," he said softly, "we didn't touch it. She has nothing to wear. You can plug in the heater if you want. Remember to unplug it before you come down." He didn't want to see this room, left her on the platform and left. Starling stood for a moment holding the cold porcelain doorknob.She needed to clear her mind a little bit before her mind was filled with things about Frederica. Okay, now the premise is that Buffalo Bill hit Frederica first, put a weight on her, and submerged her in a river far from home to hide her well.He hid her better than everyone else - she was the only one with weights on her - because he wanted the latter to be found first.He wanted to establish, before the discovery of Frederica of Belvedere, the idea that the victims had been chosen at random from a wide spread of towns.It's important to draw attention away from Belvedere because he lives here, or possibly Columbus.

He started with Frederica because he wanted to get her skin.When we start to have delusions, we don't take imaginary things as objects.Coveting is a very real sin—we have the delusion to always start with something we can touch, with something we see every day.He could see Frederica in the course of his own daily life, and he could see Frederica in the course of his daily life. And what about the course of Frederica's daily life?okay…… Starling pushed open the door.Here it is, in this silent room that smells musty in the cold.On the wall is still last year's calendar, which is always in April.Frederica had been dead for ten months.

Cat food was hard and black in a saucer in the corner. Starling was an old hand at yard buying clearance sales and decorating.She stood in the middle of the room, looking around slowly, and Frederica was pretty darn good for all she had made.There are curtains made of calico; judging from the piping, she made some sofa covers; There was also a billboard with a pinned ribbon that said "BHS Pipe Band" in shiny letters.On the wall was a poster of the entertainer Madonna, another of Deborah Harry and Blondie.On a shelf above the table, Starling saw a roll of brightly colored self-adhesive wallpaper that Frederica used to paste the walls.The wallpaper wasn't very good, but Starling thought it was better than the first time she'd labored over it herself.

In an ordinary home, Frederica's room would have been filled with joy, but in this dilapidated and sheltered house, there was only screaming; there was a sound of despair echoing through it. Frederica did not have a picture of herself in the room. Starling found one in the school yearbook on the little bookshelf, choir club, home economics club, sewing class, brass band, 4-H club—maybe these pigeons were used for her 4-H program. Frederica's school yearbook has some signatures: "To an Amazing Buddies", "Amazing Girl", "My Chemistry Partner", and "Remember the Big Homemade Bakery?!! "

Can Frederica bring her friends up here?Could she have such a good friend who would be willing to climb the stairs in the rain?There was an umbrella by the door. Check out this picture of Frederica sitting in the front row of the brass band.Frederica was broad and fat, but her uniform fit her better than the others.She is big and has beautiful skin.Her uneven features came together to form a pleasing face, but she was not attractive by conventional standards. Kimberly Emberger wasn't what people call alluring, either, in the eyes of stunned, brainless middle-schoolers; neither were the other victims.

However, anyone could be smitten with Catherine Martin, a big, good-looking young woman who, in her thirties, had to struggle with obesity. Don't forget, he sees women differently from others, traditional standards of attractiveness don't count, as long as they have smooth skin and a fat body. Starling wondered if he remembered that women thought of "skin", like some cretins called women "chen". She was aware of her hands tracing the captions beneath the photographs in the yearbook, aware of her whole body, aware of the space she occupied, her form, her face, their appearance, their inner strength , her pair of breasts above the yearbook, her tight belly against the yearbook, her legs below the yearbook.Is there anything she can use from her own experience?

Starling looked at herself in the large full-length mirror on the overhead wall. She was glad that she looked different from Frederica, but she knew that this different look was the root of her thinking.How might it prevent her from seeing the problem? What kind of look does Frederica want to give?What is she longing for?Where do you go to find what you desire?What was she trying to do about herself? Here are a few diet plans, a "fruit juice special diet," a "rice and rice special diet," and a neurotic plan that says once you sit down you can't drink, and if you drink, you can't eat.

Organized Weight Loss Groups - Does Buffalo Bill specifically look at these groups looking for big girls?Hard to check.Starling learned from the case file that two of the victims belonged to weight loss groups, and the membership rosters were also compared.A detective from the Kansas City Bureau, the FBI's traditional "Fat Guy Unit," and several overweight officers were dispatched to the town where the victim lived, to "slim classes" and "weight loss centers." The investigation has also entered some weight loss institutions with "Beware of Obesity" and other names.She didn't know if Catherine Martin belonged to a weight loss group.Participating in organized weight loss, money would be an issue for Frederica. Frederica had several issues of Big Pretty Girls magazine for fat women.On this, she was advised to "come to New York, where you can meet new people from different parts of the world, where your figure will be considered a precious asset", that's right.Or, "You can also travel to Italy or Germany, where you won't feel alone after the first day." Of course.If your shoes are too small and your toes are sticking out of your head, here's what to do.God!All Frederica needs is to meet Buffalo Bill, who considers her figure a "precious asset". How did Frederica manage it?She had a little makeup on and a fair amount of stuff on her skin.Good for you, take advantage of that wealth!Starling found herself unknowingly rooting for Frederica, as if doing so could make any difference. In a White Owl snow-front cigarette-case she kept some of her poor jewellery, and here was a gold-plated round brooch which probably belonged to her late mother.She tried to cut off the finger parts of some kind of mesh day gloves woven by the machine, trying to wear them like Madonna, but they had already been worn so that the threads frayed and fell apart. She also listens to some music, and has a Deca record player from the 1950s, with a pocketknife attached to the tonearm with a rubber band to add weight to the tonearm.The records were secondhand from someone's yard clearance sale, and they were some love themes played by Sanford, the "master of the flute." When Starling pulled the light cord to illuminate the closet, she was startled by the clothes in Frederica's closet.She has very nice clothes, not too many, but it is more than enough to wear to school, to go to work in a fairly formal office, or even to do a retail business where clothes need to be particular about.With a quick glance in, Starling understood why.Frederica made her own clothes, and she made them very well, the seams were machine-closed and the welts were carefully inlaid.On a shelf at the back of the closet are several cutting-out patterns, most of them "simple", but there are also a few "fashionable", which look difficult to make. She was probably going to a job interview in his best clothes.What is she wearing?Starling flicked through the file, and here it was: She was last seen in a green suit.What is it, officer, what is this "green suit"? Looking at her closet, Frederica was struggling—she had very few shoes—and, for her weight, some pairs were worn out.Her loafers were stretched into ovals.She wears deodorant socks with her sandals.The small round holes on her running shoes were also stretched out of shape. Frederica might also get in a little exercise—she has a couple of oversized warm-ups. Sportswear is made by "Juno". Catherine Martin also has some baggy slacks made by Juno. Starling withdrew her gaze from the closet.She sat down at the foot end of the bed, folded her arms, and stared into the lighted wardrobe. "Juno" is an ordinary brand, sold in many places that sell oversized clothing, but it raises the question of clothing.Every city, big or small, has at least one store that specializes in fat clothing. Did Buffalo Bill set his sights on these fat clothing stores, pick a customer, and set his sights on her? Does he look around in a store that sells oversized clothing in women's clothing?Every store in the city that carries oversized clothing has a mix of transvestites and cross-dressing gay men among its customers. Buffalo Bill is trying to gender change himself, a theory that has only recently been investigated since Dr. Lecter told Starling, so what about the costumes he wears? All of the victims must have bought clothes at Fat Clothing - Catherine Martin could wear a size 12, but no one else could fit; Catherine must have also gone to an oversized store to buy a fat "Juno" brand undershirt. Catherine Martin, the smallest of the victims, fit a size 12 outfit.The first victim, Frederica, was the largest.How did the Buffalo Bills taper off size and pick Kathleen Martin?Catherine has quite ample breasts, but not so large a waist.Did he lose weight himself?Was it possible that he had been in any weight loss group lately?Kimberly-Amberg is probably somewhere in between, she is big, but her waist is sunken a lot... Starling had gone out of her way to avoid thinking about Kimberly Emberger, but for a moment she was lost in the memory.Starling saw Kimberly lying on the mortuary table in Pottertown.Buffalo Bill didn't care that her legs had been hot-waxed and her nails were meticulously oiled: he saw that Kimberly's flat chest wasn't good enough, picked up his pistol, and smacked it. A starfish comes. The door was pushed open a few inches.Before Starling knew what was going on, she already felt a movement in her heart.A cat came in, a domestic tabby cat with two golden eyes and one blue.It jumped onto the bed and rubbed against her.It was looking for Frederica. Lonely.Lonely fat girls trying to satisfy someone's desire. The police have already banned heterosexual dating clubs.Could there be another way for Buffalo Bill to take advantage of his loneliness?Nothing brings us down more easily than greed. Maybe it was loneliness that gave Buffalo Bill access to Frederica, but Catherine was a different story.Catherine is not alone. Kimberly is alone.Don't start thinking about it again.Kimberly's body was past catalepsy, limp and at the mercy of others, turned over on the mortuary table so Starling could take her fingerprints.Don't even think about it!Can't think about it!Kimberly was lonely and desperate to please; did Kimberly submit herself to someone just to feel his heart beat against her back?She wondered if Kimberly ever had the experience of beards grinding against her swollen shoulder bones. Starling stared into the lighted closet, and she remembered Kimberly's fat back, the two triangles of skin that had been peeled off her shoulders. Starling stared into the illuminated closet, and she seemed to see the outline of the two triangles on Kimberly's shoulders sketched in blue chalk on a cutting board.The thought swam away, twirled, and came back again, this time close to her, so that she could grab it, and catch it with a throb of intense joy: they were slits. Pleats—he took two triangular pieces of leather and made pleats to widen her waistline.Fuck he can sew!Buffalo Bill was trained to really sew—he didn't just pick and make off-the-shelf clothes. What Dr. Lecter said, "He's making himself a girl's suit out of real girl's skin." What did he say to me? "Can you sew, Clarice?" Damn straight up, I can! Starling tilted her head back and closed her eyes for a moment.Solving problems is like hunting; that primordial joy is something we are all born with. She had seen a telephone in the living room.She started downstairs to make the phone, but Mrs. Bamer's high-pitched reedy voice was already calling her up, to come down and answer the phone.