In the film it is stated before he was captured Hannibal destroyed all his client records.
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Film and Television Discussion
slickgeezer40 — 9 years ago(January 27, 2017 05:11 PM)
In the film it is stated before he was captured Hannibal destroyed all his client records.
When Crawford send Starling under the false pretense to gather data through a questionnaire. He really wants Hannibals help on the Buffalo Bill case as he feels he will open up to Starling.
He would have no idea the two killers would have met.
Buffalo Bill is killing in Texas and the lower mid west. Hannibal is jailed and was a practioner in Baltimore. It's such a leap that Hannibal would be any help. He hardly has respect for Hannibal as the fake reward offered would mean Hannibal would not help in the future.
Overall it's all luck and a weak plot point commonly overlooked.
I can understand Hannibal may have the capacity to help as a psychiatrist and killer himself. But it's such a gamble. -
tfilm78 — 9 years ago(January 27, 2017 07:06 PM)
Actually they weren't that far apart. Buffalo Bill is found in Ohio, while Lecter worked out of Baltimore, Maryland. Gumb's first victim was from West Virginia, not far from Maryland.
But even not knowing that, Crawford knew that Lecter was a psychiatrist, and still had some interest in the practice, so thought he would be helpful, given the right incentive. -
Puccini123 — 9 years ago(February 02, 2017 01:54 PM)
If my memory is correct, I belive the viewer is given certain bits of information:
Behavior/psychological forensics is a fairly new branch of the FBI. Crawford (?) is leading the development of this field, and therefor uses a questionaire to get info from ALL incarcerated serial killers at the time - Lecter is the most "interesting" serial killer, but he refuses to participate.
Being busy with the ongoing Buffalo Bill case, Crawford sends student Clarice, hoping she'll be able to get through to Lecter. This might be useful in the Bill case, in the sense that all scientific findings might be useful to the field.
However, Lecter secretly already knows who Buffalo Bill is, and it is infact him who quickly turns the first conversation on to Bill.
Being the only agent that has been able to get any useful information out of Lecter, Clarice is kept on the case - even more so when the FBI/Crawford realizes Lecter has information about the killers identity.
The questionaire was never an excuse to question Lecter about Bill - it just so happened that Lecter had info about an ongoing case he was willing to share.
This is not a plot hole or weak writing - this is infact the main plot point of the film. -
Melton1 — 3 months ago(December 06, 2025 10:09 AM)
The questionaire was never an excuse to question Lecter about Bill
Wrong. Starling asks Crawford about this in the car, Crawford gives her a knowing look. She asks why she wasn’t told the true agenda, he says ‘If I’d sent you in with an actual agenda Lecter would have known it instantly and turned to stone.’ -
AnthonySocksss — 3 months ago(December 06, 2025 08:37 AM)
Lecter was a genius and just about the only serial killer psychiatrist around. He was able to help Clarice determine a psychological profile on Buffalo Bill and track him down with the “he covets” line.
Melton1 Wanted for Pedophilia:
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https://m.youtube.com/shorts/Zjxk307CND0
