starling, clarice m., good morning.
your instructors tell me you're doing well. top quarter of the class.
a job's come up and i thought about you. not really a job, more of - an interesting errand. walk me to my car, starling.
we're trying to interview all of the serial killers now in custody, for a psychobehavioral profile. could be a big help in unsolved cases. most of them have been happy to talk to us. they have a compulsion to boast, these people.  do you spook easily, starling?
you see, the one we want most refuses to cooperate. i want you to go after him again today, in the asylum.
the psychiatrist - dr. hannibal lecter.
you're qualified and available. and frankly, i can't spare a real agent right now.
i don't expect him to talk to you, but i have to be able to say we tried.  lecter was a brilliant psychiatrist, and he knows all the dodges. dossier on him, copy of our questionnaire, special id for you.  if he won't talk, then i want straight reporting. how's he look, how's his cell look, what's he writing? the director himself will see your report, over your own signature - if i decide it's good enough. i want that by 0800 wednesday, and keep this to yourself.
now. i want your full attention, starling. are you listening to me?
be very careful with hannibal lecter. dr. chilton at the asylum will go over the physical procedures used with him. do not deviate from them, for any reason. you tell him nothing personal, starling. believe me, you don't want hannibal lecter inside your head.  just do your job, but never forget what he is.
i've read your interim memo on lecter. you sure you've left nothing out?
every word, starling? every gesture?
he mentioned a name, at the very end. "mofet" any followup on her?
well? why aren't you there right now?
do you recall my instructions to you, starling? what were they?
then do that, starling. do just exactly that.
miggs has been murdered.
the orderly heard lecter whispering to him, all afternoon, and miggs crying. they found him at bed check. he'd swallowed his own tongue.  chilton is scared stiff the family will file a civil rights lawsuit, and he's trying to blame it on you. i told the little prick your conduct was flawless. starling?
you don't have to feel any way about it. lecter did it to amuse himself. why not, what can they do? take away his books for awhile, and no jello.  i know it got ugly today. but this is your report, starling - take it as far as you can. on your own time, outside of class. now carry on.
i'll take over, patricia. you get some rest.
he keeps them alive for three days.
why, we don't yet know.  there's no evidence of rape or physical abuse prior to death. all the mutilation you see there is post-mortem. i'm hot, are you hot? bobby, it's too damned hot back here.
so. three days. then he shoots them, skins them - usually just the torsos - and dumps them. each body in a different river, in a different state, downstream from an interstate highway. the water leaves us no fingerprints, fibers, dna fluids - no trace evidence at all. that's fredrica bimmel, the first one.
a big girl, like all the rest. went about 160.  her corpse was the only one he took the trouble to weight down, so actually, she was the third girl found. after her, he got lazy.
blue square for belvedere, ohio, where the bimmel girl was abducted. blue triangle where her body was found - down here in missouri. same marks for the other four girls, in different colors. this new one, today.  washed up here. elk river, in west virginia, about six miles below u.s. 79. real boonies.
good idea, but he thought of it, too. we've run simulations, using different vectors and the best dates we can assign. you put it all in the computer, and smoke comes out. no, this one is different. this one has seen us coming.
talk about him, starling. tell me what you see.
why?
why not?
maybe you've got a knack for this.  i guess we're about to find out.
okay, starling. let's have it.
what should i say? you did fine work. we'll wait on the lab.
are you finished?
number one. maybe there's a connection, maybe not. lying and breathing are the same thing to lecter. number two. if i'd sent you in there with something to hide from him, he'd have known it, instantly. he'd never have trusted you.
number three, i didn't bring you along today just because you can do first-rate forensics. if lecter is becoming part of this case, you've got the most current read on him. and number four - you don't have to like me, or the way i do things. but you do have to keep a cool head. especially now.  because from here on out, you'll know everything i do. are we straight on that?
you think about him long enough, you get a feel for him.  then, if you're lucky, out of all the stuff you know, one little part of it tugs at you, tries to get your attention.  you let me know when that happens, starling. live right behind your eyes, today. don't try to impose any patterns on this guy. just stay open and let him show you.
school's out, starling.
starling?
we're around back.
sheriff perkins? jack crawford, fbi.  this is officer starling. we appreciate your phoning us.
well sir, that's where we can help. if -
sheriff, this, ah - this type of sex crime has some aspects i'd rather discuss just between the two of us. know what i mean?
i need a six-way linkup! chicago, detroit, cleveland, st. louis, atlanta, and dallas.  what?.  can you hear me?
we're starting. tell everybody to stand by for fingerprint transmission.
what do you see, starling?
get photos of her teeth. then we'll fax her fingerprints to washington, try to trace her through missing persons.
what is it - some kind of seed pod?
she'll be easier to print if we turn her over. lamar, will you give me a hand?
starling - what do you make of these?
they weren't there. get close-ups.
when i told that sheriff we shouldn't talk in front of a woman, that really burned you, didn't it? that was just smoke, starling, i had to get rid of him. you did well in there.
point taken.
when we get back, i want you to run that bug by the smithsonian, see if they can identify it. maybe it's got some limited range, or it only breeds at certain times of year.  you found it, starling, you deserve the credit.
the other girls are in the ground. exhumations are upsetting for the families. i'll do it if i have to, but -
you seem pretty sure of that.
before we caught him, lecter had a big psychiatric practice in baltimore. but he traveled all over the country - teaching, consulting.  christ, even testifying in murder trials. who knows how many potential psychos he turned loose, just for the fun of it?
i don't think he knew that she's a senator's child. she's a big girl, starling, like all the rest. we're going on the theory she was randomly targeted by size.
by now, bill's had her for 36 hours. that leaves us just 36 more, before he kills her.  but maybe, just maybe, starling, we caught a real break this time - thanks to you. we found another bug, in raspail's head.
maybe we can trace how he buys the bugs, starting with u.s. customs.
maybe we can locate some of raspail's old lovers. maybe, someday.
but for catherine martin, it all comes down to you and lecter. you're the one he talks to.
he offered to help, starling, not to snitch. that wouldn't give him enough chance to show off. remember, lecter looks mainly for fun. never forget fun.
if we act too anxious, he'll make us wait. he'll let the senator keep hoping, day after day, until catherine finally washes up. that'd be the most fun of all.
what would it take?
state to federal jurisdiction.  we can do it - eventually - but we'll never get all the clearances in time. can you convince him a deal's already in place?
she doesn't know what we're up to. and we can't afford to let her find out.
she's the mother, starling. she can't possibly comprehend what lecter is. she'd make the mistake of pleading with him. begging him.  he'd feast on her pain till the last second of that girl's life.
we can't trust frederick chilton, either. he's greedy and ambitious. if he knew about lecter's link to bill, he's go straight to the newspapers.
dr. danielson, the man we want was never your patient. it would be someone you refused because he tries to conceal a record of criminal violence. please, doctor - time is eating us up. just show me the ones you've turned away.
you want to see a violation? this is a violation.
her name is kimberly jane emberg, she was just id'd. i met her on a slab in west virginia. and sometime tomorrow, or tomorrow night, he's going to do the same thing to catherine martin.
in a minute!
look.  search your own records, if you prefer. you can do it a lot faster than us, anyway. if we find buffalo bill through your information, i'll suppress it. nobody has to know this hospital cooperated.
oh, that's clever, dr. danielson. very humorous. you like the truth? try this. he kidnaps young women and kills them and rips their skin off. we don't want him to do that anymore. if you don't help me, just as fast as you can, then the justice department is going to ask publicly for a court order, we'll ask twice a day, just in time for the morning and evening news. and each one of our press conferences will focus on dr. danielson, over at johns hopkins, and how we're still hoping for his cooperation. and every time there's any news on the case - when catherine martin floats, when the next one floats, and the next one - why, we'll just issue another press release about good ol' dr. danielson, over at johns hopkins - complete with all his humorous fucking remarks.
would you, doctor? that would be so kind.
transferred?
let him land.
let's get some coffee and talk.
i'm 53, starling. if i found jimmy hoffa on national tv, i'd still have to retire in two years. it's not a consideration. but you are.  you've done enough. if i keep you out of school any longer, you'll be recycled. cost you six months, at least. i can guarantee you readmission here, but that's about it. now's your chance, starling. go back to class. leave bill to me.
or just as worthless. but i want you in memphis, close to him. maybe when he gets tired of toying with senator martin, he'll talk to you again. there's a plane waiting for you now at the airstrip.
good idea. meantime, try to get a feel for catherine martin. her apartment, her friends.  how he might've stalked her. i'm going to the other two clinics, minnesota and ohio. now's the hardest part, starling. use your anger, don't let it keep you from thinking. just keep your eyes on catherine. we've got less than 30 hours.
they'll use their best men. but they better be paying attention.
he will.
who the hell's fault is -
if you hadn't interfered, he'd still be in custody in baltimore!
you're just trying to cover your ass for letting him escape!
you heard them. i don't have that authority anymore.
ohio is cold ground. picked over, ten months ago. our people worked it, so did the locals.
i'm bureau for 28 years, starling. i won't disobey orders, not even now.
with id and a gun? impersonating a federal agent is a felony.
there's about $300 here.  and a hotline code number. they'll patch you through to me, wherever i am.
starling -
starling, we know who he is! and where he is. we're on our way now.
calumet city, edge of chicago. i'll be on the ground in 45 minutes with the hostage rescue team. i'm back in charge, starling. he's mine.
johns hopkins finally came up with a name for us. we fed him into known offenders, and he came up cherries. subject's name is "jamie gumb," aka "john grant." lecter's description was accurate, he just lied about the name.
this gumb's a real beauty. slaughtered both his grandparents when he was twelve, and did nine years in juvenile psychiatric. where, starling, he took vocational rehab, and learned a useful trade.
take a bow. customs had some paper on his alias. they stopped a carton two years ago at lax - live caterpillars from surinam. the addressee was "john grant." calumet power & light's given us two possible residences under that alias. we're hitting one, chicago swat's taking the other.
no, starling, there isn't time. and you've still got crucial work to do in ohio. we want him for murder, not kidnapping. i'm counting on you to link him to the bimmel girl, before he's indicted.
starling - you've earned back your place in the academy. we never would've found him without you, and nobody's ever going to forget that. least of all me.
switches off, feeling bad for her. on the console near him, the fax machine starts to chatter. he turns, looks.
clarice.
starling.  your father sees you.
who smiles back at her with quiet pride, and offers a little salute.