Hannibal

Romula, her friend Gnocco, and Pazzi follow Lecter around Florence. Inside the Santa Croce cathedral, Romula tries to approach Lecter. When she looks into “the red centers of his eyes” (181), however, she is filled with fear. She refuses to go anywhere near the evil Lecter. Instead, Pazzi relies on Gnocco.

Lecter visits the torture exhibit of the museum again and watches the crowds. Pazzi trails him, waiting for Gnocco to approach. Gnocco tries to pick Lecter's pocket, but Lecter grabs him in a “terrific grip” (190). Barely breaking his stride, Lecter stabs Gnocco in the leg and slices open his artery, walking away calmly. Pazzi rushes to Gnocco. He collects the bracelet and feigns calling an ambulance, allowing Gnocco to die on the street. Gnocco's death is attributed to a dispute between drug addicts, and Pazzi arranges for Romula and her baby to leave for Australia. As she departs, she tells Pazzi that he “gave Gnocco to Shaitan” (194). Pazzi sends the bracelet to Mason, who confirms that Fell is Lecter.

In Sardinia, Mason's crew prepares to grab Lecter. The group is composed of four Sardinians and two Romans. The Sardinians are professional kidnappers, led by Carlo Deogracias and his brother Matteo, and are aided by another set of brothers, Piero and Tommaso Falcione. The two Romans are a director of pornographic films named Oreste Pini and his cameraman. Oreste has directed a snuff movie before, and he has been hired to film the pigs eating Lecter alive. As they train the pigs to eat human flesh, they play recordings that Carlo has made of “hellish screaming” (201).

Pazzi flies to Geneva, where a banker gives him part of Mason's reward. He is told that the rest will be placed in escrow until Lecter has been captured. Seeing $3 million in front of him, Pazzi realizes that Mason is “not fooling around” (204). After returning to Florence, he attends a concert with his wife, Laura, where he notices Lecter in the audience. At intermission, Lecter approaches him and charms Laura. Lecter and Pazzi discuss his upcoming lecture. The next day, Pazzi meets with Carlo in a small town in Tuscany. They plan to catch Lecter after the lecture in the Palazzo Vecchio. Pazzi wants to be assured that Lecter will be “out of Tuscany” before Carlo tortures him (214).

Lecter wakes up and knows instinctively that he is “in danger” (215), but he does not alter his behavior. He reads about Clarice Starling's upcoming Judiciary Subcommittee hearing and studies the “serrated” Harpy knife that he used to kill Gnocco (216). Carlo drives into Florence to meet up with Pazzi. He is prepared to kill Lecter if the kidnapping goes awry and has considered the ways that he might film the death by himself to make extra money from Mason. Lecter visits a pharmacy in Santa Maria Novella and arranges for a selection of scented soaps and creams to be sent to Starling, including in the package a picture of her that he has drawn. Pazzi follows Lecter to the Santa Croce cathedral and watches as Lecter sketches with charcoal.

In the Palazzo Vecchio, Lecter prepares to give his lecture. He is “courteous and extremely generous” with the workmen who assist him (226). The lecture concerns “Dante's Inferno and Judas Iscariot” (228). As Lecter talks about history's most famous traitors, Pazzi enters. Lecter elicits a laugh from the audience by referencing how one of Pazzi's ancestors is included in Dante's work “for treachery and betrayal” (229). Once the lecture is over, Pazzi contacts Carlo. As Carlo waits outside for Pazzi and Lecter, Pazzi is attacked by Lecter, who tells him that he is “giving serious thought to eating [his] wife” (233). Lecter ties up Pazzi and asks him about the men who are about to attack him. If Pazzi cooperates, then Lecter promises to leave Laura alone. Once he has the information he wants, Lecter throws Pazzi from the window of the Palazzo Vecchio with a noose around his neck. When the noose tightens, Pazzi's bowels fall out in bloody, theatrical tribute to the execution of Pazzi's ancestors.

Outside, Carlo and Matteo react. As Carlo rushes toward the building, Matteo is attacked and killed by Lecter. A young man on a motorcycle agrees to take Lecter across the river to his parked car. Carlo uses the air ambulance intended to transport Lecter to carry away the dead body of his brother, Matteo. He contacts Mason Verger, and they plan to kill Oreste and ship the pigs to America. Lecter travels to a small church in a town south of Florence, where he has stashed “passports of the best Brazilian manufacture, identification, cash, bankbooks, keys” (247). In Florence, the police gradually piece together what has happened to Pazzi. When Lecter is established as the suspect, Krendler contacts Mason. Starling is “the last to know that Dr. Lecter ha[s] killed again” (251). The photograph used on the police bulletins is his old, pre-cosmetic surgery face. In Sardinia, Carlo kills Oreste and his assistant. They feed the film director to the pigs.