Getting down off the Belvedere turned out to be the easy part.  Lecter laid a board across the gap between it and the next building and then, carrying the board over to the next, so they passed four buildings over.  There, they entered a hotel and took the elevator down to the eight floor.

            In the lighted hallway, Clarice took her first good look at Lecter.  He was wearing a tuxedo over a red shirt.  Apparently, he had planned on going somewhere where he would want everyone to realize that the woman in red belonged to him alone.  Clarice felt too tired at the moment to feel outraged at his blatant statement of ownership.  Otherwise he looked much the same as the last time she saw him in the house on the Chesapeake.  She watched with morbid fascination as he used his left hand to insert the keycard into the door lock.  His shirt cuff covered any scaring and the hand seemed perfectly functional.

            Inside the room, she found that everything looked as though the maid had just been.  There was only one personal item inside the room.  On the bed, there was a small duffle bag.  Lecter immediately went towards it and un-zippered it to pull out a white t-shirt and a pair of gray sweatshirts.  These he handed to Clarice, and then pulled out a more casual suit for himself from where it was hanging in the closet.  Clarice just stared at him as he did this, holding the clothes he had just given her and looking perplexed in her scarlet gown.

            Lecter turned his cold eyes towards her, then away.  "If you'll excuse me, Clarice.  The bathroom is to your left," he said, and began to loosen his bowtie and unbutton his shirt.

            Whatever Clarice had been expecting when they got to their destination, it had not been this.  Dismissed, and feeling like a scolded child, Clarice slunk into the bathroom, and closed the door behind her soundly.  Inside, she stripped off her bracelet and gloves, then removed the earrings and placed them on the counter harder than she meant.  Why are you so angry, Clarice? The voice said in her mind.  You didn't get what you wanted?  Clarice pointedly ignored the obvious slander.  She pulled the pins from her hair and tossed it free.  Then she washed the makeup from her face roughly, leaving her face ruddy.  She then reached around underhand to grasp for the zipper.  She couldn't reach it.  She tried overhand.  She growled in frustration.  Another thing made by a man.  Putting the means of escape in the most inconvenient place.  She went for the bathroom door, grabbing the handle forcefully.

            Meanwhile, Dr. Lecter had managed to get out of his tailed coat and dress shirt.  He pulled on a new shirt over his undershirt, and then exchanged his black tuxedo pants for gray tweed.  He was just tucking in his shirt, when he heard Clarice call.

            "Dr. Lecter?" her voice was timid, yet forceful.

            "Yes, Clarice?"

            "Could you help me?"

            Lecter strode towards the bathroom, wondering what she could possibly want.  He banished the "scenarios" that immediately came to mind.  Her face looked red.  Had she been crying?  Had he been so harsh?

            "Clarice?" his voice was so gentle, she forgot about his earlier discourteous dismissal momentarily.

            She looked shyly, demurely up into his eyes, then quickly looked away.  Why was he suddenly so tender, so worried?  "Could you… um, unzip me?" she finally managed, turning around and holding up her golden hair.

            "Certainly," he said, reaching out to grasp the small piece of metal in his large fingers.  Clarice stared straight ahead as the cold air hit her bare back.  Lecter blinked suddenly, the thought that a sleeveless gown would mean that she would not wear a bra had never crossed his mind.  He swallowed audibly, then pulled the zipper down to past her waist, almost to her buttocks, when her hand reached around to stop him from going any further.

            Clarice turned around, and releasing his hand, and with a small smile on her features.  "Thank you," she said quietly, and then slipped back into the bathroom.

            Lecter returned to take his blazer from the closet, wondering at Clarice's strange behavior.  It occurred to him only after he tucked his handkerchief into the pocket, that she had stopped him short because like her bra, her underwear were also missing.