'I need you to tell me everything you can about Mrs. Dumas, and I need it right now, Dr. Lecter. I won't ask you this twice. I've answered your question, now you tell me what I want to know. Quid Pro Quo, doctor.'
'You are beautiful when your eyes are shooting fire, Clarice. Alright then, I'll tell you what you want to know, without further ado. Madelyn Johns was trapped in a marriage with a wonderful but alcoholic, gambling husband who died in a car accident twenty-three years ago, leaving her nothing but debts. She married Thom Dumas out of desperation, but she never really stopped loving her first husband.'
'She told you this?'
'Yes. Confidentially, of course. But now that she's deceased, I see no harm in divulging this information. Now tell me Clarice, what is it about Miss Mapp that earns her the title of most important person in your life?'
'She's uncomplicated. She tells you things straight to you face, you never have to guess what she's about. She's... sane. I guess she's my voice of reason.'
'Nice girl, your Ardelia. Tell me, Clarice, does she challenge your intellect? Does she nourish your need for personal growth, for new experiences? No. She's just there, is that it? Just the fact that she's there for you when you need someone, anyone, makes her the most important person in your life?'
'Yes. Now tell me more about Mrs. Dumas, doctor.'
'I'll tell you something about her husband. Thommy boy could never quite get over the fact that his dear wife was still in love with her first husband. He tried everything to win her heart; he bought her presents, flowers, he took her to the opera. He even made her pregnant, thinking a child would bring her closer to him. But to no avail. Her lack of passion for him turned him into a man of stone.'
'Are you suggesting that he killed her?'
'My dear, I am not suggesting anything.'
I sat in silence for a while, staring at the man who intrigued me like no other man ever had. He was dangerous. He had killed at least nine people without remorse, but I needed someone like him. Someone who could 'challenge my intellect', 'nourish my need for personal growth and experience'. And he was there. And wasn't that simple fact enough to make him the most important person in my life?
'Clarice, I owe you an apology. My remark about Miss Mapp was... tasteless, if you'll pardon the pun.'
'It's alright, Dr. Lecter. I owe you one as well.'
'Oh, you do now, do you?'
'Yes...' I took a deep breath. 'I think you are the most important person in my life. Much as I love Ardelia... you were right about her. I guess the fact that she is so uncomplicated makes her somehow, well, boring.'
'Good girl, Clarice. Honesty is a virtue that most people have taught themselves to forget in favor of protocol. I'm glad to see you are not one of them.'
'Are you, Dr. Lecter? One of them?'
'I should hope not. Why?'
'What is your honest opinion of me, doctor?'
He thought for a while, his blue eyes shining with a rare delight. I was brushing imaginary specks of dust off my skirt, trying to hide my anxiety. It seemed like an eternity before he spoke.
'You, Clarice, are the only person who has ever looked me straight in the eyes. I think that should tell you something about your strength and courage. I myself, well I can't deny finding you attractive... you are a beautiful woman, my dear. And you have...'
He stopped there, as if realising he'd gone too far, said something he shouldn't have.
'I have what, Dr. Lecter?' I prodded him.
He looked at me, and for a moment I felt as if I were looking straight into his soul.
'You have my sister's eyes.'
And I knew. At that very moment, I knew that cannibalism didn't come naturally. He wanted us all to believe it did, that he had been born this way and that there were no underlying traumas. But I knew better, now. The way he whispered his sister's name, so softly I wouldn't have heard it if I hadn't seen his lips move.
'Mischa.'
I kneeled down at his bedside, and gently pressed my lips on top of his. The day Madelyn
Dumas was murdered was the day I lost my soul to a cannibal.