Recruitment and Initial Contact
A young FBI trainee enrolled at the Quantico Academy was approached by the Behavioral Science Unit for a special assignment. The trainee, Clarice Starling, was selected by Jack Crawford, chief of the unit, to make contact with an imprisoned serial killer. This individual, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, was a former psychiatrist and convicted cannibal, held in the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. The stated reason for Starling’s visit was to conduct a psychological survey, but the true objective involved eliciting Lecter’s help in profiling an active serial killer known as “Buffalo Bill,” who was targeting young women and removing their skin.
Upon arrival at the institution, Starling was met by the facility’s director, Dr. Frederick Chilton. Chilton made inappropriate advances toward Starling and later accompanied her to Lecter’s cell. Lecter initially appeared courteous but quickly became wary upon discerning the underlying motive of her visit. As Starling was leaving, a fellow inmate, Miggs, assaulted her by throwing bodily fluids. Lecter, disgusted by the act, called Starling back and offered her a cryptic clue. This clue, an anagram, led Starling to a rented storage unit, where she discovered a preserved severed head inside a jar. Soon after, Miggs was found dead in his cell, having swallowed his own tongue. Although not confirmed, this event was widely believed to have been manipulated by Lecter as retaliation.
Quid Pro Quo and a New Clue
Lecter expressed willingness to assist with the Buffalo Bill case but requested to be relocated away from Chilton’s oversight. Around the same time, a new victim surfaced with a death’s-head moth placed in her throat. This matched the species discovered in the severed head previously found by Starling.
When Catherine Martin, the daughter of U.S. Senator Ruth Martin, was abducted by the killer, Starling was permitted to present Lecter with a false agreement. This supposed deal promised a prison transfer in exchange for actionable leads. Lecter, however, insisted on a quid pro quo arrangement, requiring personal information from Starling in return for insights. In their conversations, Starling disclosed that her father, a police officer, was murdered during her childhood, leaving her orphaned. In response, Lecter shared that Buffalo Bill was not genuinely transsexual but believed himself to be, possibly due to rejection from gender-reassignment clinics.
Deception and Relocation
Without Starling’s knowledge, Chilton had been recording the discussions between her and Lecter. He used this information to undermine the FBI’s efforts and offered Lecter a new deal directly. This agreement included a transfer to Tennessee, where Lecter would provide information in person. Lecter complied and was transported to Memphis. During his interview with Senator Martin, he provided accurate details regarding the killer’s appearance but identified him under a false name, “Louis Friend.”
Starling, after reviewing this information, deduced that the name was an anagram for “iron sulfide,” also known as fool’s gold. She later confronted Lecter in his Tennessee holding cell, where he once again demanded personal disclosures before offering further clues. One such clue emphasized the idea that “we covet what we see every day.”
The Lambs and the Escape
Prompted by Lecter’s probing, Starling revealed a traumatic experience from her childhood. Following her father’s death, she lived briefly on a relative’s Montana farm. There, she attempted and failed to rescue lambs destined for slaughter. The sounds of their screams continued to haunt her dreams. Lecter concluded that Starling viewed the rescue of Catherine as a way to silence these metaphorical lambs. Satisfied with her vulnerability, Lecter returned the Buffalo Bill case files.
That evening, Lecter executed a meticulously planned escape. Using a pen part he had secretly acquired, he freed himself from restraints, killed two guards, and used one guard’s peeled face as a mask. Disguised as a wounded officer, he was transported out of the facility by unsuspecting paramedics.
Identifying the Killer
After Lecter’s escape, Starling closely examined his annotations on the case files. She traced connections between Buffalo Bill and his first victim, Frederika Bimmel, a tailor from Ohio. This lead prompted her to visit Bimmel’s home, where she discovered unfinished garments. The patterns matched the skin removed from the victims, leading to the conclusion that the killer was attempting to fashion a suit from human skin.
Simultaneously, Crawford and his team used medical and psychiatric records to identify a suspect. The man, Jame Gumb, had applied for sex reassignment surgery but was denied due to violent tendencies. While the FBI prepared to raid his known residence in Illinois, Starling continued her investigation in Ohio.
Final Confrontation and Resolution
Starling interviewed local acquaintances of the first victim and was directed to the home of a man named Jack Gordon. Upon arrival, she grew suspicious after spotting a death’s-head moth. Gumb fled into his basement, where Starling discovered Catherine Martin trapped in a dry well.
Navigating the dark labyrinth, Starling was stalked by Gumb, who used night-vision goggles to his advantage. However, when he cocked his revolver, the sound gave away his position. Starling responded with gunfire, fatally wounding him. Catherine was rescued, and Starling completed her training, graduating from the FBI Academy.
The Final Call
During her graduation celebration, Starling received a phone call from Lecter. He was calling from Bimini in the Bahamas. In their final exchange, he asked her if the lambs had stopped screaming. He assured her that he would not pursue her and asked for the same courtesy in return. Before ending the call, he stated that he was “having an old friend for dinner,” as he began trailing Dr. Chilton through a crowded street.
