Disclaimer: The characters of Hannibal Lecter, Clarice Starling, Jack Crawford, Clint Pearsall and Paul Krendler do not belong to me, but to Thomas Harris. No copyright infringement intended. I won't make any money of it. Just borrowing them for a while. Lecter' s blue eyes belong to Anthony Hopkins, though (I'm not sure there's a copyright on this).


Chapter 2: The widow

The sun was shining on Denver but it was much colder than in Washington. According to the map they gave her at the airport, she should not be far from Mrs. Talbot's apartment now. Richmond avenue ... Edison street ... Here it was: Carson street, number 132. She found a place to park the car almost in front of the building. Neighborhood was nice. Not rich, rather middle class. Pretty much what she expected after having seen Talbot's house.

She rang at the door and the voice of a woman answered on the intercom:

"- Yes ?
- Mrs. Talbot ? I am special agent Clarice Starling, from the FBI in Washington. I think you had one of my colleagues on the phone yesterday.
- Yes. Come in please. I'm on the third floor."

Starling pushed the door and climbed up the stairs. Just as she arrived, the door of one of the apartments opened and the ex-Mrs Talbot appeared in the entrance. The file said she was forty two, but she looked younger.

Mrs. Talbot let her in and led her to the living room. It was staffed mainly with modern furniture. Rather impersonal, but functional. A little boy was playing with cars on the couch. Geena Talbot had a look at her son.

" - My daughter refuses to get out of her bedroom." she said. "She was very close to her father. She suffered a lot from the divorce.
- I understand." Starling responded. Though she doubted an answer was requested.

Geena looked at her; her face was deprived of any emotion. She was passed that.

" - I think it would be better to talk in the kitchen." she said, silently designating the child. "That is, if you don't mind of course.
- No problem."

They moved to the kitchen. Geena poured coffee into two mugs and they sat at the table.

" - I know it's not the perfect moment Mrs. Talbot" Starling started "and I will try to make it as short as possible. But there are a few things we need to know about your husband.
- You can call me Geena."

Starling offered a poor smile and nodded.

" - From what you know, Geena, did your husband - sorry, ex-husband ...
- It has no importance now. Victor and I had maintained good relationships. You can call him my husband if it makes it easier.
- Did your husband have known enemies ? People that resented him for a reason or another ?
- I don't believe so. Victor was easy to be with. He did not talk much about his job though. I don't know if there were tensions there. And if there had been, he would probably not have told me ... Especially now.
- He was a chemical engineer, wasn't he ?
- Yes. He was leading a research team at Branston Chemical.
- Is this why you moved to Washington ?
- Yes. We moved about five years ago. We were both from Denver, but Victor got a good opportunity and we decided to give it a try."

She paused for a few seconds.

" - Victor had his job, but I never really got used to it. After the divorce, I decided to come back.
- He had friends in Washington ?
- Mainly Eddy. Edward Manson. They had been to university together. Eddy moved to Virginia ten years ago. Quantico. He's with the FBI too." Starling raised an eyebrow. "Victor and Eddy lost contact for a few years but met again when we moved. They quickly became best friends. Otherwise, merely acquaintances. It took him time to make friends.
- Did he still have family in Denver ?
- No. his parents died in a car accident when he was twenty. They were his only family."

Starling was writing down every piece of information.

" - Do you know if he was practicing any sport ?
- Jogging. He ran five miles every morning. No matter where he was, or the weather.
- Any particular hobby, or regular occupation ?
- He did not have much time for that. He did a little modeling when he was younger. Mainly planes models."

The conversation went on for another two hours. Starling was looking for any information that could help her knowing better the late Victor Talbot. When she had no more questions, she pulled out an envelope from the chest pocket or her vest. She took from it the picture of the little boy they had found in Talbot's wallet.

" - Geena, have you ever seen this child before ?"

She did not answer immediately. Instead, her dark eyes stared at Starling. She seemed to hesitate for a second, then:

" - It was the Daffodil killer, wasn't it ?" she asked
" - We have no certainty yet." Starling answered. How can one lie to a widow ? She wondered. Dealing with families was for sure the part of her job she hated most. "But it could be, yes.
- Why Victor ?
- I don't know. We don't know yet how he chooses his victims."

Geena looked at the photo, took it from Starling's hand. After a while, she gave it back.

" - Never seen before." she said. "Neither in Denver nor in Washington. But I was no more involved in Victor's life in the last two years. Maybe the children ... Peter ?
- Yes mom.
- Can you come here, honey ? "

After a few seconds, the boy showed up at the kitchen door, immediately followed by his sister.

" - Clarice here is gonna show you a picture. I want you to look at it carefully and tell us if you have seen the boy before."

Starling handed the picture. The two kids came closer and looked at it. They both nodded negatively.

" - Thanks, my loves.
- Has it something to do with dad's death ?" the girl asked.
" - They don't know, honey".

The girl took his brother's hand.

" - I'm gonna have Peter take his bath now if you want mom.
- Thanks."

The two children left the room. Starling stayed ten minutes more with Geena to give her details about the procedure to transport her husband's body back to Denver. Then she left, but not before having promised she would let her know about any news on the case.


Starling sat in her rented car and closed her eyes. Images flooded back to her mind. The officer who came to announce to her the 'accident' of her father, his room in the little county hospital, the morgue, the funeral ... where no one from the mayor's office showed up.

She felt a headache was coming. But she could not let herself go yet. She still had to write and send her report to Price. She knew him well enough now to know he wouldn't leave the office before he received it. And he would probably want to discuss it with her after he read it.

She started the engine and headed towards the hotel one FBI assistant had booked for her. The traffic was light and she arrived there in less than ten minutes.

At the reception desk, she filled the registration form and got her key. As she was about to enter the elevator, the clerk called her back.

" - Oh, Miss Starling ! I almost forgot ! You received a message." He handed her a little yellow envelop. She opened it and read:

The choice of the victims seems desperately random, doesn't it Clarice ?
But what if it really was ! Random, I mean.


Her heart beat suddenly accelerated. She turned back to the reception employee.

" - How did this arrive ?" she asked rather abruptly.
" - Let me see ..." The man opened his registry and let his finger run on the page." Here it is. It was a phone call. At 2:30 pm. Yes, I remember it now. I took the call myself.
- Did the person identify himself ?
- No. I asked but he answered you would understand who he was.
- Male or female ?
- He was a gentleman." he answered, slightly shocked. "With some education, I should add.
- Thank you."

She grabbed her bag and climbed to her room. As soon as she was in, she locked the door and took the phone. She dialed Price's office number and waited for him to answer. "Come on, pick-up the phone." she whispered.

" - Michael Price.
- Good evening sir, Starling speaking.
- Oh Starling. I was not expecting your call so early. How was your day in Denver ?
- Was OK so far, sir. As a matter of fact, I have not completed my report yet. I think I can send it to you within two hours.
- Fine with me.
- I just wanted to ask you one question.
- What is it ?
- Who knew I was going to Denver sir ?
- What ?
- Yesterday evening you ordered me to Denver. Brad was there. Somebody in the Bureau booked the hotel for me. Apart from the four of us, did anyone else know I would be here, in this hotel tonight ? I know this may sound odd, but I need to know sir.
- Well, unless specified otherwise, all agents trips are registered into the database. Any accounting department employee could access the file. Then, we did not take particular precautions ... I guess Lucy - she booked the hotel - may have talked about it. And of course the hotel employee who took the reservation. Maybe Davenport told his wife ..."

Starling' s brain was running at full speed, trying to make out an explanation. After about ten seconds, Price broke the silence: "What is it Starling ?" he asked. His voice was soft. Clarice hesitated, then decided to inform him about the note.

" - I'm not sure this is important sir but ...
- Maybe if you tell me I can help you decide.
- Yeah ... When I arrived at the hotel tonight somebody had left a message for me.
- A message ? What kind of message ?
- The 'anonymous' kind." She told him about her conversation at the reception desk and then read the note for him.

" - And that's all it said ?
- Yes. Just that.
- Any idea who that may come from ?
- No sir.
- Unfortunately Starling, our streets are full of people who want to attract attention on them. This guy could just be one of the millions of people who think they are smarter then the FBI.
- I know sir. It' just that ...
- What ?
- It's not the first message I got sir."

Then she told him about the note she had found with her mail the previous evening.

" - I don't want to seem paranoid, but someone delivered a message to my own place yesterday. And then this ...
- I understand. Did you talk about the case to any friends or relatives ?
- Well, my private life looks pretty much like a desert these days." She immediately regretted her words, but it was too late to take them back.
" - I see. Here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna try to contact Davenport and Lucy while you work at your report. See if they talked to anybody about your trip. I'll call you back after.
- Thank you sir."

Starling hung up. While her computer started she opened the mini bar and took one of the little bottle of whisky. She sure could use a stiff drink.


To be continued ... Thanks for reading. Reviews welcome.
Absolut