The Silence of the Lambs - Thomas Harris [106]
That fact was recorded, unremarked, in smudged ink beside the location on the map. The body of the second woman abducted was found first, floating in the Wa?bash River in downtown Lafayette, Indiana, just below Interstate 65.
The first young woman reported missing was taken from Belvedere, Ohip, near Columbus, and found much later in the Blackwater River in Missouri, outside of Lone Jack. The body was weighted. No others were weighted.
The body of the first victim was sunk in water in a remote area. The second was dumped in a river up?stream from a city, where quick discovery was certain.
Why?
The one he started with was well hidden, the second one, not.
Why?
What does “desperately random” mean?
The first, first. What did Dr. Lecter say about “first”? What did anything mean that Dr. Lecter said?
Starling looked at the notes she had scribbled on the airplane from Memphis.
Dr. Lecter said there was enough in the file to locate the killer. “Simplicity,” he said. What about “first,” where was first? Here--- “First principles” were impor?tant. “First principles” sounded like pretentious bull?shit when he said it.
What does he do, Clarice? What is the first and principal thing he does, what need does he serve by killing? He covets. How do we begin to covet? We begin by coveting what the see every day.
It was easier to think about Dr. Lecter's statements when she wasn't feeling his eyes on her skin. It was easier here in the safe heart of Quantico.
If we begin to covet by coveting what we see every day, did Buffalo Bill surprise himself when he killed the first one? Did he do someone close around him? Is that why he hid the first body well, and the second one poorly? Did he abduct the second one far from home and dump her where she'd be found quickly because he wanted to establish early the belief that the abduction sites were random?
When Starling thought of the victims, Kimberly Emberg came first to mind beause she had seen Kimberly dead and, in a sense, had taken Kimberly's part.
Here was the first one. Fredrica Bimmel, twentytwo, Belvedere, Ohio. There were two photos. In her year?book picture she looked large and plain, with good thick hair and a good complexion. In the second photo, taken at the Kansas City morgue, she looked like noth?ing human.
Starling called Burroughs again. He was sounding a little hoarse by now, but he listened.
“So what are you saying, Starling?”
“Maybe he lives in Belvedere, Ohio, where the first victim lived. Maybe he saw her every day, and he killed her sort of spontaneously. Maybe he just meant to... give her a 7-Up and talk about the choir. So he did a good job of hiding the body and then he grabbed another one far from home. He didn't hide that one very well, so it would be found first and the attention would be directed away from him. You know how much attention a missingperson report gets, it gets zip until the body's found.”
“Starling, the return's better where the trail is fresh, people remember better, witnesses---”
“That's what I'm saying. He knows that.”
“For instance, you won't be able to sneeze today without spraying a cop in that last one's hometown--- ?Kimberly Emberg from Detroit. Lot of interest in Kimberly Emberg all of a sudden since little Martin disappeared. All of a sudden they're working the hell out of it. You never heard me say that.”
“Will you put it up for Mr. Crawford, about the first town?”
“Sure. Hell, I'll put it on the hotline for everybody. I'm not saying it's bad thinking, Starling, but the town was picked over pretty good as soon as the woman--- ?what's her name, Bimmel, is it? as soon as Bimmel was identified. The Columbus office worked Belvedere, and so did a lot of locals. You've got it all there. You're not gonna raise much interest in Belvedere or any other theory of Dr. Lecter's this morning.”
“All he---”
“Starling, we're sending a gift to UNICEF for Bella. You want in, I'll put your name on the card.”
“Sure, thanks Mr. Burroughs.