Shackled - Part 1
From above, blue flashing lights surround part of the Chesapeake shore. They are visible in the darkness for miles and from the water they come into sight long before the unmistakable sound of police sirens can be heard.
Apart from the sirens an eerie silence has descended upon the lake-house of the late Paul Krendler. His remains, minus part of his frontal lobe, are still sitting in a wheelchair in his kitchen, the leftovers from dinner scraped into the hollow in his skull and the china dinner service is stacked neatly in his lap. There is no need to dust the house for fingerprints. The main suspect has already been apprehended.
Each officer attending the scene recognises the magnitude of this event. The legendary serial killer, Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter, has being arrested after being on the run for ten years. The local police have the centrepiece of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted in their possession.
It is not yet public knowledge but it will be soon. Assistant Director Noonan is already working on his public statement and Section Chief Crawford, currently lying in the cardiac care unit of Jefferson Memorial, was informed by telephone ten minutes ago. There is silent exaltation evident in the eyes of the officers, each of them knowing that for tonight there will be special bonuses and handsome pay deal's struck with the tabloids for their version of events. Even Special Agent Ardelia Mapp has been told by Clint Pearsall to put a bottle of Champagne on ice.
Oddly enough there is one that does not celebrate. Lecter's captor, Clarice Starling, watches the scene around her unfold sombrely. Her face is void of any emotion and her body is numb partly from shock and from the morphine that has not yet worn off. She has been in a situation like this before, tens years ago she shot Jame Gumb AKA "Buffalo Bill" in the basement of his home. This time, however, the wine of achievement has a bitter aftertaste but she does not know this yet. She attributes her feelings to shock. She stands on the grass verge that leads down to the dock, a woollen blanket has been draped across her shoulder, presumably by an officer though she does not remember. She keeps her eyes focused on the water. She can not bear to look behind her, knowing what she will see. Dr. Lecter, his arms and legs cuffed, lying on the ground surrounded by police officers. She fears that if she looks he will force her to meet his eyes. And she fears that he won't.
Instead she lets her gaze move to the house. The lights are on in nearly every room, even the upstairs where the officers are searching thoroughly for any of Lecter's personnel belongings. A man exits the house, in one hand he holds an evidence bag of clothes, in the other Hannibal Lecter's mask. The Sergeant walks towards the group of officers that surround Lecter and hands it to one of them. Before Starling thinks of what she is doing she is standing with the group of officers as they pull Lecter off the ground.
"What the fuck are you doing?"
Officer Beck regarded the young woman for a moment. He had little time for woman in law enforcement. They were too high-stung and hysterical and yet he felt he must accord this one some degree of respect, she having caught Buffalo Bill and Hannibal Lecter single-handedly.
"Ma'am I think the mask is necessary to ensure the safety of our officers."
Starling resisted the urge to roll her eyes, "Jesus Christ, how exactly do you think he's going to manage to eat one of your men when both his legs and hands are cuffed?"
"Excuse me Ma'am for saying so but it wouldn't be the first time that's he's attacked an officer while in custody."
Starling sighed, suddenly feeling exhausted, "Fine, just lose the mask okay? Put him in the back of the squad car alone. I don't think he's in much of a position to be able to run."
The officer didn't reply but thought better of it than to ignore her wishes. He nodded at his officers who proceeded to pull Lecter up of the ground and push him towards the car.
"I am perfectly capable of getting into the car myself gentleman, if you had but asked." Dr. Lecter said civilly, the first words he had spoken surprising the officers. They had never heard the metallic rasp of his voice before. Dr. Lecter stepped into the car, nodding at Clarice, "Agent Starling." She could not meet his eyes but felt his intense stare bore into her. The door of the squad car slammed shut and Officer Beck and another man started for the vehicle.
"Wait", Starling called out. "I'm going with you."
Officer Beck looked almost amused, "In a few moments Ma'am another one of the officers will escort you home."
Starling replied in a flat monotone, "There is no need. I'll stay with the prisoner."
"Ma'am I have my orders - "
"Officer Beck, I am an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and as such I am your superior. I will accompany you to the station." Beck didn't notice her slip up and from that Starling assumed she would be soon reinstated if the FBI felt there was no need to inform the police of her change of job status. Beck realised that it would be better to acquiesce to her wishes, her superiors being much more powerful than his own. He shrugged and went to open the car door for her but Starling reached it first.
It was only when she opened the door and saw Dr Lecter behind the wire in the back seat that the realisation of what she was doing fully hit her. She had insisted on bringing him to the station. She told herself that it was simply the need for closure, to see it through to the end but she knew that there were other factors involved. She didn't trust Beck near Dr. Lecter, his mind and manners reminded her too much of "Doctor" Chilton. She knew he would think himself Dr Lecter's equal if not his superior, and berate him all the way to the station, trying his best to humiliate him as much as he could. With her in the squad car he wouldn't dare to try it, for fear of insulting her in the process. There were other more sinister reasons of course why she wanted to be with them but those she could not yet bare to admit to herself.
****************************
They were already out of sight of the house before the silence in the car was broken. Starling didn't realise until then that she had been focused completely on the steady breathing of Dr. Lecter.
The Doctor's voice cut cleanly through the air and Beck almost swerved off the road in surprise.
"I must apologise Clarice. I feel I underestimated you."
Starling shut her eyes for a moment and tried to breathe deeply. She dreaded what she knew was coming, an acknowledgement that she had outsmarted him, that he didn't think she would have the courage to apprehend him. In his statement a silent was an acknowledgement of his own feelings.
"Really Dr Lecter? How so?"
"I didn't think you would enjoy Mr Krendler so much. Had I known I might have saved some of Dr Chilton."
Starling ignored Beck's curious glance. So bloody typical of Dr. Lecter trying to make her uncomfortable though she supposed that in their present position she deserved all she got. He was well aware that she had been repulsed by the idea of eating him but he also knew that deep down inside her there was a smug satisfaction that Krendler was out of her way.
"I wouldn't have thought you could bear to eat a man that you only felt repulsion for."
A beat. "On the contrary my dear, his heart was in excellent shape. It went down very well with his mother at least. Good heart, little Starling, is a rare quality. What a pity poor Jacky-boy finds himself in his current predicament. We must hope for our own sakes his other organs are in better condition."
Starling cast a quick glance at Beck beside her, his complexion had turned a sickly colour, quite as she'd expected.
The drive to the station could not have been more twenty minutes. To Starling, it felt like hours. She did her best to try and gauge Lecter's emotions. He would be angry certainly but if he was he didn't show it. In fact he seemed rather unsurprised at the turn of events, like he had planned it just this way. Of course he hadn't, but it was only evident to her in the hint of malice that accompanied is voice. In the squad car he inflicted his anger and revenge on her. Not with physical force but with the biting comments that had seared her in their first meeting. There was no Miggs to save their relationship now.
As he was being assisted out of the squad car he turned to her and stared. His intense eyes moving over, searing, her body made Starling visibly squirm. "I must say Clarice. You're doing quite well with my incarcerations. First Buffalo Bill and know this. Reinstatement and advancement, just what you love best. And Krendler's exit thrown in to close the deal. If there's any other way you can profit from my misfortune you will let me know won't you?"
"Dr Lecter I - "
"Come and see me soon Clarice, we can have some fun."
***********************************************
Ardelia Mapp greeted Starling at the door when Beck dropped her home. Starling didn't bother inviting him in. Mapp ran to her and embraced her.
"Congratulations girl! It's over Clarice. You got him. Come on inside. Everybody's here. Maguire and Pearsall. And guess who else? Noble Pilcher. He saw the coverage on the news and rang to offer you his congrats so I invited him over. Noonan called for you but he'll call back later. He said to tell you that Jack Crawford's out of Intensive Care. C'mon girl and I get you a glass of champagne."
Starling let Mapp lead her into the duplex where crowds had assembled in Mapp's tidy sitting room. There were hugs and kisses and congratulations and at some point someone put a glass of bubbly into her hand. Clarice watched numbly as they all celebrated her success. She was the only one who didn't seem share their happiness. Instead of the excitement she felt she should feel, there was only fatigue and some other all-consuming emotion that she could not name. It wasn't until much later that she realised it was guilt.
From above, blue flashing lights surround part of the Chesapeake shore. They are visible in the darkness for miles and from the water they come into sight long before the unmistakable sound of police sirens can be heard.
Apart from the sirens an eerie silence has descended upon the lake-house of the late Paul Krendler. His remains, minus part of his frontal lobe, are still sitting in a wheelchair in his kitchen, the leftovers from dinner scraped into the hollow in his skull and the china dinner service is stacked neatly in his lap. There is no need to dust the house for fingerprints. The main suspect has already been apprehended.
Each officer attending the scene recognises the magnitude of this event. The legendary serial killer, Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter, has being arrested after being on the run for ten years. The local police have the centrepiece of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted in their possession.
It is not yet public knowledge but it will be soon. Assistant Director Noonan is already working on his public statement and Section Chief Crawford, currently lying in the cardiac care unit of Jefferson Memorial, was informed by telephone ten minutes ago. There is silent exaltation evident in the eyes of the officers, each of them knowing that for tonight there will be special bonuses and handsome pay deal's struck with the tabloids for their version of events. Even Special Agent Ardelia Mapp has been told by Clint Pearsall to put a bottle of Champagne on ice.
Oddly enough there is one that does not celebrate. Lecter's captor, Clarice Starling, watches the scene around her unfold sombrely. Her face is void of any emotion and her body is numb partly from shock and from the morphine that has not yet worn off. She has been in a situation like this before, tens years ago she shot Jame Gumb AKA "Buffalo Bill" in the basement of his home. This time, however, the wine of achievement has a bitter aftertaste but she does not know this yet. She attributes her feelings to shock. She stands on the grass verge that leads down to the dock, a woollen blanket has been draped across her shoulder, presumably by an officer though she does not remember. She keeps her eyes focused on the water. She can not bear to look behind her, knowing what she will see. Dr. Lecter, his arms and legs cuffed, lying on the ground surrounded by police officers. She fears that if she looks he will force her to meet his eyes. And she fears that he won't.
Instead she lets her gaze move to the house. The lights are on in nearly every room, even the upstairs where the officers are searching thoroughly for any of Lecter's personnel belongings. A man exits the house, in one hand he holds an evidence bag of clothes, in the other Hannibal Lecter's mask. The Sergeant walks towards the group of officers that surround Lecter and hands it to one of them. Before Starling thinks of what she is doing she is standing with the group of officers as they pull Lecter off the ground.
"What the fuck are you doing?"
Officer Beck regarded the young woman for a moment. He had little time for woman in law enforcement. They were too high-stung and hysterical and yet he felt he must accord this one some degree of respect, she having caught Buffalo Bill and Hannibal Lecter single-handedly.
"Ma'am I think the mask is necessary to ensure the safety of our officers."
Starling resisted the urge to roll her eyes, "Jesus Christ, how exactly do you think he's going to manage to eat one of your men when both his legs and hands are cuffed?"
"Excuse me Ma'am for saying so but it wouldn't be the first time that's he's attacked an officer while in custody."
Starling sighed, suddenly feeling exhausted, "Fine, just lose the mask okay? Put him in the back of the squad car alone. I don't think he's in much of a position to be able to run."
The officer didn't reply but thought better of it than to ignore her wishes. He nodded at his officers who proceeded to pull Lecter up of the ground and push him towards the car.
"I am perfectly capable of getting into the car myself gentleman, if you had but asked." Dr. Lecter said civilly, the first words he had spoken surprising the officers. They had never heard the metallic rasp of his voice before. Dr. Lecter stepped into the car, nodding at Clarice, "Agent Starling." She could not meet his eyes but felt his intense stare bore into her. The door of the squad car slammed shut and Officer Beck and another man started for the vehicle.
"Wait", Starling called out. "I'm going with you."
Officer Beck looked almost amused, "In a few moments Ma'am another one of the officers will escort you home."
Starling replied in a flat monotone, "There is no need. I'll stay with the prisoner."
"Ma'am I have my orders - "
"Officer Beck, I am an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and as such I am your superior. I will accompany you to the station." Beck didn't notice her slip up and from that Starling assumed she would be soon reinstated if the FBI felt there was no need to inform the police of her change of job status. Beck realised that it would be better to acquiesce to her wishes, her superiors being much more powerful than his own. He shrugged and went to open the car door for her but Starling reached it first.
It was only when she opened the door and saw Dr Lecter behind the wire in the back seat that the realisation of what she was doing fully hit her. She had insisted on bringing him to the station. She told herself that it was simply the need for closure, to see it through to the end but she knew that there were other factors involved. She didn't trust Beck near Dr. Lecter, his mind and manners reminded her too much of "Doctor" Chilton. She knew he would think himself Dr Lecter's equal if not his superior, and berate him all the way to the station, trying his best to humiliate him as much as he could. With her in the squad car he wouldn't dare to try it, for fear of insulting her in the process. There were other more sinister reasons of course why she wanted to be with them but those she could not yet bare to admit to herself.
****************************
They were already out of sight of the house before the silence in the car was broken. Starling didn't realise until then that she had been focused completely on the steady breathing of Dr. Lecter.
The Doctor's voice cut cleanly through the air and Beck almost swerved off the road in surprise.
"I must apologise Clarice. I feel I underestimated you."
Starling shut her eyes for a moment and tried to breathe deeply. She dreaded what she knew was coming, an acknowledgement that she had outsmarted him, that he didn't think she would have the courage to apprehend him. In his statement a silent was an acknowledgement of his own feelings.
"Really Dr Lecter? How so?"
"I didn't think you would enjoy Mr Krendler so much. Had I known I might have saved some of Dr Chilton."
Starling ignored Beck's curious glance. So bloody typical of Dr. Lecter trying to make her uncomfortable though she supposed that in their present position she deserved all she got. He was well aware that she had been repulsed by the idea of eating him but he also knew that deep down inside her there was a smug satisfaction that Krendler was out of her way.
"I wouldn't have thought you could bear to eat a man that you only felt repulsion for."
A beat. "On the contrary my dear, his heart was in excellent shape. It went down very well with his mother at least. Good heart, little Starling, is a rare quality. What a pity poor Jacky-boy finds himself in his current predicament. We must hope for our own sakes his other organs are in better condition."
Starling cast a quick glance at Beck beside her, his complexion had turned a sickly colour, quite as she'd expected.
The drive to the station could not have been more twenty minutes. To Starling, it felt like hours. She did her best to try and gauge Lecter's emotions. He would be angry certainly but if he was he didn't show it. In fact he seemed rather unsurprised at the turn of events, like he had planned it just this way. Of course he hadn't, but it was only evident to her in the hint of malice that accompanied is voice. In the squad car he inflicted his anger and revenge on her. Not with physical force but with the biting comments that had seared her in their first meeting. There was no Miggs to save their relationship now.
As he was being assisted out of the squad car he turned to her and stared. His intense eyes moving over, searing, her body made Starling visibly squirm. "I must say Clarice. You're doing quite well with my incarcerations. First Buffalo Bill and know this. Reinstatement and advancement, just what you love best. And Krendler's exit thrown in to close the deal. If there's any other way you can profit from my misfortune you will let me know won't you?"
"Dr Lecter I - "
"Come and see me soon Clarice, we can have some fun."
***********************************************
Ardelia Mapp greeted Starling at the door when Beck dropped her home. Starling didn't bother inviting him in. Mapp ran to her and embraced her.
"Congratulations girl! It's over Clarice. You got him. Come on inside. Everybody's here. Maguire and Pearsall. And guess who else? Noble Pilcher. He saw the coverage on the news and rang to offer you his congrats so I invited him over. Noonan called for you but he'll call back later. He said to tell you that Jack Crawford's out of Intensive Care. C'mon girl and I get you a glass of champagne."
Starling let Mapp lead her into the duplex where crowds had assembled in Mapp's tidy sitting room. There were hugs and kisses and congratulations and at some point someone put a glass of bubbly into her hand. Clarice watched numbly as they all celebrated her success. She was the only one who didn't seem share their happiness. Instead of the excitement she felt she should feel, there was only fatigue and some other all-consuming emotion that she could not name. It wasn't until much later that she realised it was guilt.