The Silence of the Lambs

Gumb sits in his home, watching his prized tape repeatedly and considering what to do about Precious. He goes down into the basement, picks up a revolver, and puts his night vision goggles on. He decides it would be best to shoot Catherine in her sleep while it is pitch black, so she will not see him coming. However, as he approaches the oubliette, Precious hears him and wakes up Catherine.

Before Gumb can do anything else, his doorbell rings. At first, he ignores it, but when it rings again, he answers it. On the other side of the door is Starling, who has come to ask him questions about Fredrica. At first, Gumb pretends not to know a lot about Fredrica. However, eventually he lets Starling in under the guise that he might have some information for her. Gumb looks around in his desk for something to give Starling, who has identified herself as FBI. As he does so, Starling sees a Death’s-Head Moth land on him. Suddenly, she realizes who she is talking to.

Trying not to panic, Starling contemplates her next move. At the moment, Gumb does not realize that she knows who he is. However, when he turns around, the Death’s-Head Moth flutters to the window, and he sees the truth in Starling’s eyes. Starling orders Gumb to freeze, but he escapes into another room and then runs down into his basement.

Starling chases Gumb into the basement, where she finds Catherine, still alive in the oubliette. Catherine screams at Starling for help. Starling tries to calm her down so she can focus on apprehending Gumb. Momentarily, Catherine calms down. However, when Catherine realizes that Starling intends to leave her alone to chase after Gumb, she starts screaming again.

Nonetheless, Starling continues navigating her way through the basement. There, she finds a bathroom with a preserved corpse. Before she can think about what to do with it, Gumb turns off the lights in the basement, and Starling gets plunged into utter darkness. Starling does her best to feel along the wall, hoping to find her way to light. Unfortunately, Gumb has his night vision goggles on, so he can see her perfectly wherever she goes.

Gumb raises his gun and cocks it. Going on sound alone, Starling fires her weapon in Gumb’s direction, hitting him in the chest. Then, she sinks to the ground until she is certain he is dead. As Gumb dies, a moth lands on him. Eventually, Starling manages to restore light to the basement. After, she calls the local authorities and rescues Precious and Catherine from the oubliette.