The Silence of the Lambs Scene 8 Summary

  • Clarice is called out of training. She's headed to Clay County, WV, with Crawford. A new body has been found in the river.
  • Crawford lays out Buffalo Bill's M.O.—he keeps them trapped for three days, shoots them, skins them, then dumps them.
  • Clarice looks at gruesome crime scene photos on the plane. We hope she didn't just eat.
  • In the car, Crawford asks Clarice for her profile of Bill.
  • She believes he's a white male in his 30s or 40s, with his own house, who has physical strength and patience.
  • She asks Crawford about Lecter's offer, and he says he's considering it.
  • The local sheriff, Sheriff Perkins, leads the FBI agents to a funeral home, and Crawford goes to talk to the sheriff in private, leaving Clarice alone with the rest of the male police officers. Awkward.
  • Being in the funeral home reminds Clarice of a funeral, the funeral for her father.
  • Crawford shakes Clarice from her flashback and calls her into the back room.
  • All the officers are talking loudly, so Clarice speaks up and tells them, politely, to get out so the FBI can do their job.
  • Everyone left in the room puts some Vicks Vapo-Rub type stuff underneath their nose to block out the smell of the bloated corpse they're about to unzip.
  • Clarice steels herself for what she's about to see, and she turns to face the victim.
  • Clarice does an examination, speaking into a tape recorder.
  • She notes a bullet wound in the chest, and that the girl's ears are pierced, so she must not be local.
  • She tried to claw her way through something, Clarice notes from the dirt under her broken fingernails.
  • The photographer takes photos of the victim, including down her throat, and Clarice notices there's something down there.
  • An examiner reaches inside with tweezers and pulls out a little cocoon. Clarice believes someone shoved it in there.
  • They flip the body over, and find two large diamond shaped sections of skin removed. Gross.
  • In the car, Crawford tells Clarice that he only told the sheriff he didn't want to talk in front of a woman to suck up to the sheriff, so he wouldn't get in their way.
  • Well, that's sweet, we guess.