Chapter Text
The name of a dear and deeply respected friend had been making the news as of late. Not for his brilliance or his astonishing contributions to law enforcement, but for his recent dishonor. “Famous detective Will Graham is disgraced, forced to resign from his position,” the papers read.
The unscrupulous reporter Freddie Lounds wrote of the apparent mental instability, eccentricity, and improper conduct that led to Graham’s ejection from the Baltimore Police Department. The latest article claimed “Former Detective Will Graham suffers nervous breakdown!” Her defamatory words struck against the nerves of the esteemed surgeon, Dr. Hannibal Lecter. It wasn’t enough to report on his unemployment when it occurred, but to hound him afterward and comment on his subsequent appearance and well-being was reprehensible. He bristled and tossed the paper onto the seat beside him in the carriage. Closing his eyes, he rested his chin on his silk cravat. He hadn’t seen Will for quite some time, but he knew the man to have a tendency for melancholy and withdrawal. He would have to see for himself how well he was coping.
Unfortunately, Miss Lounds had not exaggerated. Will greeted Dr. Lecter with a warm embrace and invited him in, but he held a distance in his eyes and his grin wavered across his pale face. His hair had grown shaggy, with curls falling into his eyes and brushing against the tops of his shoulders and he sported a very unkempt beard. His vest hung open and his collar was popped and empty of a tie.
Lecter walked past him into the house and had to give his eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness. The interior of his parlor had a musty smell and it was clear that he had let his housekeeper go. Dr. Lecter took the liberty of opening the curtains to illuminate the somber room and he could see flecks of dust suspended in the beams of light that broke through. He glanced at Will and the younger man screwed his expression and shook his head as if anticipating disdain. He said nothing, but merely gestured at a seat in front of a chess board. Lecter smirked and sat down. Will cleared away the previous game he had played against himself, and reset the pieces.
“Perhaps you are wondering what brings me to Baltimore again,” Dr. Lecter submitted, moving his first piece.
“You have taken a position at the medical examiner’s office, consulting with the police,” Will muttered.
Lecter raised an eyebrow.
“What brings you to that conclusion?”
“You did not alert me to your visit because you have taken up permanent residence. If you were only visiting for a short period, you would have made sure I was in so you would not miss me. You were stiff when you hugged me, which indicates that you feel like an ambassador of the enemy; the enemy being the department that dismissed me. And what other use would the police have for a surgeon?”
Lecter cleared his throat.
“You have heard of my fall from grace,” Will continued, “You most likely heard it first from the department itself, but have since read about it in the papers.”
“Is that so?” Dr. Lecter nudged a pawn forward.
“When you came to my door you were not surprised by my appearance and you said nothing. You scanned the room when you entered. Your eyes fell on the untidy details. All of this you were expecting before you even arrived at my door. You sniffed the air. You opened the curtains. You took on a very protective, paternal countenance. I believe you must have read Miss Lounds’ article about my nervous breakdown and have decided to come to comfort and fawn over me. ”
Lecter scoffed and Will looked up from the board and wrinkled his brow. A slow smile crept over the doctor’s face, and Will responded with an impish grin.
“I am as transparent in my relations as I am at the chess board,” Dr. Lecter remarked.
Will shook his head and replied, “You know bloody well you are the only formidable opponent I’ve faced. Anyway, we may as well discuss the matter at hand.”
“Chief Inspector Zeller believes you are unfit for duty.”
“Brian Zeller is a damned fool,” Will spat and then slouched forward and said, “That isn’t true. He’s a capable investigator with a mind for scientific inquiry. He is simply constrained by intellectual prejudice.”
Lecter pondered his next move and said, "Even the most ingenious among us can lack the power of analysis. That power requires a certain imagination. It is a rare breed of mind that claims both ingenuity and analytic talent."
“Unfortunately, my talents don’t include working well with others.”
“Have you considered private investigation?” Lecter suggested.
Will cringed.
“I believe that business relies on a certain reputation.”
“You have solved many seemingly impossible crimes,” Lecter pointed out, “Surely your reputation is satisfactory.”
“Not anymore,” Will muttered. “Miss Lounds saw to that.”
Hannibal Lecter passed his eyes over his young friend. Under his patchy whiskers he could still see his comely features and steel blue eyes with lashes that batted slowly as he studied the chess board. It was true, he was feeling a bit paternal. It pained him to see someone of Will’s intellectual caliber reduced to a slovenly state. Out of respect for the man’s competence, he abstained from lecturing or fawning.
He only stated, “If there is anything I can do for you at this time, you need only ask.”
“Dr. Lecter,” the Deputy Inspector greeted him as he approached the edge of the bay. “We’ve not thoroughly examined the body, in anticipation of your arrival.”
“Thank you, Inspector Price,” Lecter responded. He immediately approached the corpse of a vagrant splayed out near the water. His throat was mauled and his gut torn open. The mud around him was spattered with blood and gore.
“It appears to be an animal attack,” Price pointed out, “What animal we can’t be certain. The bite pattern is unusual.”
“The ground is wet and soft,” Chief Inspector Zeller stated, approaching the scene. “How can there be no animal tracks?”
He rolled up his sleeves and pinned them at the elbows. Then he reached out to shake Dr. Lecter’s hand.
“Good morning Doctor.”
“Only shoe marks in the mud,” Price added. “The victim’s shoe prints, and bare human feet. This area gets a bit of traffic from swimmers.”
Lecter removed his frockcoat, handed it to a nearby officer, and pinned up his own sleeves. He crouched down next to the body and removed a small pair of forceps from his medical bag.
“Gashes and tearing,” Dr. Lecter announced, pushing the flesh aside with his forceps, “No rooting or gnawing. Very unusual bite pattern, that is true.”
“Any idea what sort of creature would do this?”
“Something quite large,” Lecter responded. “The initial attack was directed at the throat and bruising over the shoulders suggests he was pinned down with great force.”
The doctor glanced over at a cypress that was bare of branches at the trunk. A sturdy limb jutted out nearly a story up. He pointed it out to Zeller.
“Launched from the tree,” Zeller said.
“Quite a climb,” Price remarked. “A big cat, perhaps?”
“I will examine him further at the morgue,” Lecter said, wiping his forceps with a handkerchief.
The body was placed on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance carriage. Dr. Lecter looked again at the bruise pattern on the shoulders and arms. Then his eyes darted back in forth in thought over the body, the blood, and the mud caking in the morning sun. They fell upon something stuck amidst the pondweeds. He picked it up and examined a shiny black ribbon with a distinct sailor’s knot tied in it. A strand of hair clung to the knot and the ribbon was slicked with pomade. Lecter glanced at the inspectors who were still peering up into the tree. He slipped the ribbon into his pocket and strode away.
The carriage lumbered over rougher streets as it approached the shipyard. Lecter thumped on the wall, signaling the driver to come to a halt. The cabin dipped as he stepped out, removed his round hat, and tucked it under his arm. The smell of soggy wood and machinery filled his nostrils. He wandered over to the men at work and watched them load the docks.
A young man with long fair hair tied up in an oiled ponytail shimmied up the stack with marvelous ease and clung to it as he tinkered with the lowering mechanism. A small, curious smile crept over Lecter’s lips.