The Making of 'The Silence of the Lambs' Page #4

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follow-up on the Raspail case.

- He is my patient. I have rights.

- I understand that, sir.

Look, I am not just

some turnkey, Miss Starling.

This is the number

for the US attorney's office.

Either you discuss this with him or you

let me do my job, do you understand?

If your profile helps us catch Buffalo Bill

in time to save Catherine Martin,

the senator promises you a transfer

to the VA hospital at Oneida Park, New

York, with a view of the woods nearby.

Maximum security still applies, of course.

You'd have reasonable access to books.

Best of all, though,

one week of the year,

you get to leave the hospital

and go here.

Plum Island.

Every day of that week you may walk on

the beach, you may swim in the ocean,

for up to one hour, under SWA team surveillance, of course.

And there you have it.

A copy of the Buffalo Bill case file.

A copy of the senator's offer.

This offer is non-negotiable and final.

Catherine Martin dies, you get nothing.

"Plum Island Animal Disease

Research Centre."

Sounds charming.

That's only a part of the island.

There's a very nice beach.

- Terns nest there. There's beautiful...

- Terns?

If I help you, Clarice,

it will be "turns" with us too.

Quid pro quo. I tell you things,

you tell me things.

Not about this case, though.

About yourself.

Quid pro quo. Yes or no?

Yes or no, Clarice?

Poor little Catherine is waiting.

Go, Doctor.

What is your worst memory of childhood?

The death of my father.

Tell me about it and don't lie, or I'll know.

He was a town marshal.

One night he surprised two burglars

coming out the back of a drugstore.

They shot him.

Was he killed outright?

No, he was very strong.

He lasted more than a month.

My mother died when I was very young.

My father had become the whole world to

me, and, when he left me, I had nothing.

I was ten years old.

You're very frank, Clarice.

I think it would be quite something

to know you in private life.

Quid pro quo, Doctor.

So tell me about Miss West Virginia.

Was she a large girl?

- Yes.

- Big through the hips? Roomy?

- They all were.

- What else?

She had an object deliberately

inserted into her throat.

Now, that hasn't been made public yet.

We don't know what it means.

Was it a butterfly?

Yes. A moth.

Just like the one we found

in Benjamin Raspail's head an hour ago.

Why does he place them there, Doctor?

The significance of the moth is change.

Caterpillar into chrysalis, or pupa,

and from thence into beauty.

Our Billy wants to change, too.

There's no correlation between

transsexualism and violence.

- Transsexuals are very passive.

- Clever girl.

You're so close to the way you're

gonna catch him, do you realize that?

No. Tell me why.

After your father's murder you were

orphaned. What happened next?

I don't imagine the answer is

on those second-rate shoes, Clarice.

I lived with my mother's cousin and her

husband in Montana. They had a ranch.

- Was it a cattle ranch?

- Sheep and horses.

- How long did you live there?

- Two months.

- Why so briefly?

- I ran away.

Why, Clarice? Did the rancher

make you perform fellatio?

Did he sodomise you?

No. He was a very decent man.

Quid pro quo, Doctor.

Billy is not a real transsexual.

But he thinks he is. He tries to be.

He's tried to be a lot of things, I expect.

You said that I was very close to the way

we would catch him. What did you mean?

There are three centers for

transsexual surgery: Johns Hopkins,

the University of Minnesota

and Columbus Medical Centre.

I wouldn't be surprised if Billy had applied

for sex reassignment at all of them

and been rejected.

On what basis would they reject him?

Look for severe childhood disturbances

associated with violence.

Our Billy wasn't born a criminal, Clarice.

He was made one through years

of systematic abuse.

Billy hates his own identity, you see,

and he thinks

that makes him a transsexual.

But his pathology is

a thousand times more savage

and more terrifying.

It rubs the lotion on its skin.

It does this whenever it's told.

Mister, my family'll pay cash. Whatever

ransom you're asking for, they'll pay it.

It rubs the lotion on its skin

or else it gets the hose again.

Yes, it will, Precious. It will get the hose.

OK, OK.

Mister, if you let me go,

I won't press charges, I promise.

See, my mom is a real important woman.

I guess you already know that.

Now it places the lotion in the basket.

Please!

Please!

I wanna go home, please!

It places the lotion in the basket.

I wanna see my mommy!

Please!

I wanna see my...

I wanna see my mommy.

Put the f***ing lotion in the basket!

You still think you're gonna walk

on some beach and see the birdies?

I don't think so.

I called Senator Ruth Martin.

She never heard of any deal with you.

They scammed you, Hannibal.

Stand outside.

And shut the door.

There never was a deal with

Senator Martin, but there is now.

I designed it. Of course, I worked in a few

conditions for my own benefit as well.

Identify Buffalo Bill by name

and, if the girl is found in time,

Senator Martin will have you transferred

to the state prison in Tennessee.

Answer me, Hannibal.

You answer me now or, by God,

you'll never leave this cell.

Who is Buffalo Bill?

His first name is Louis.

I'll tell the rest to the senator herself,

but only in Tennessee.

And I have a few conditions of my own.

Clean him up and get him ready to go.

Jack, Hannibal Lecter's

being transferred to Memphis.

Transferred?

Did you have a trainee make a phoney

offer to Lecter in the senator's name?

Yeah, I rolled the dice. I had to.

Well, she's mad as hell, Jack.

Paul Krendler's over here from Justice.

She's asking him

to take over in Memphis.

MEMPHIS INTERNATIONAL AIRPOR

Welcome to Memphis. I'm Lieutenant

Boyle. This is Sergeant Patrick.

We'll treat you as good as you treat us.

You be a gentleman, you're gonna

get three hots and a cot.

Sir. You sign right here,

we'll have us a legal transfer.

Where's...?

Here, sir. Use mine.

Senator Martin, Dr Hannibal Lecter.

Dr Lecter, I brought an affidavit

guaranteeing your new rights.

You'll wanna read it before I sign.

I won't waste your time or Catherine's

time, bargaining for petty privileges.

Clarice Starling and that awful Jack

Crawford have wasted far too much time.

I only pray they haven't

doomed the poor girl.

Let me help you now and I will

trust you when it is all over.

You have my word. Paul?

Buffalo Bill's real name is Louis Friend.

I met him just once. He was referred

to me in April or May 1980

by my patient, Benjamin Raspail.

They were lovers, you see.

But Raspail had become very frightened.

Apparently, Louis had

murdered a transient

and done things with the skin.

We need his address

and a physical description.

Tell me, Senator. Did you

nurse Catherine yourself?

- What?

- Did you breast-feed her?

- Now, wait a minute.

- Yes, I did.

- Toughened your nipples, didn't it?

- You son of a b*tch!

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