"Starling."
"Hi, Agent Starling. It's Will Graham."
"Mr. Graham? I got the box you sent, but I haven't opened it yet."
"Just Will, please. Mister is too much for a boat mechanic, and I was never an agent. Those who couldn't do the psych eval, teach."
"To what do I owe the pleasure, then, Will? And call me Clarice if you prefer."
"I wanted to join the line of people congratulating you, first of all."
"That's very kind, ah, sir. But I was only one of---"
"Just the point of the spear, I know. I was the first one into Garret Jacob Hobbs' home, and nobody planned it that way either."
"That was an impressive catch, sir. And forgive me if this is out of line, but I know it wasn't an easy one, afterward."
"No."
"Is that part of why you called?"
"You lit a lot of old money on fire, and you're holed up from the media, as I understand."
"I was instructed to let the Bureau handle the press."
"I thought the profile Teen Vogue did on you was rather nice, actually. But I wanted to ask if you..."
"If I've got the shakes? The first few days, yes. Now, it's better."
"I'm glad."
"Pardon me for asking, but was it that way for you?"
"I had 'em bad for a while after Hobbs. Then I got sick, which didn't help."
"And after... the Red Dragon?"
"It didn't get easier."
"I appreciate your lack of varnish, sir. Will."
"Is that wrapping paper I hear?"
"Yes, I'm just now... Single malt?"
"Feel free to regift it, if that's not your style."
"Oh, no, it looks lovely. Would it be an insult to drink it with Coke?"
"It's just a liquid, Agent Starling."
"Point taken. Ah, Will, about the Red Dragon."
"Yes."
"Beverly Katz told me that there was more to the story, in the files I wasn't cleared to see."
"Well, if you just want some gossip from a local boat mechanic over a friendly glass..."
"Please."
"Before I joined Jack Crawford's team in the field, when I was only a teacher, I consulted at a crime scene. The Technician."
"The Tech...?"
"He killed a married couple, and three single women, two of them roommates. The common MO was that he tapped the landline phones. I caught the Red Dragon by realizing that he and the Technician were the same man."
"The Technician was the Red Dragon before he had settled into his main MO?"
"Right."
"Ah, the Dragon, Dolarhyde, he worked at a... boutique film processing company, right? He wasn't a phone repair guy, was he?"
"This stays between you, me and the single malt, Clarice."
"Of course."
"Dolarhyde had been laid off from a phone tech job at a cubicle farm that did contract work, content moderation, for a big social media company. Before they outsourced all that to subsistence-wage workers in Kenya."
"Wait, are you saying that he... Somehow he broke into the socials of his victims? He found the families he killed because---"
"Because they put their lives online and trusted the check box that said Private."
"Sir, that's---"
"Pour yourself a drink, if you want it. Add Coke."
"And the Bureau..."
"Hushed it up, not to be too delicate about it."
"Friends in high places?"
"So the friendly gossip would have it."
"Will... Is that why you left?"
"Enjoy your drink, Starling."