North American detective: From scoundrel to god among men

Chapter 29: Toasting on the High Platform, the Hunt Begins

In front of the museum is a square, around which stand proud statues of Michelangelo's David, Neptune, Hercules and Caesar from Giambologna. In the center of the pure white marble sculptures is a hanged greedy man, with blood dripping down.

Titus felt a wave of dizziness and looked up.

Hannibal stood on the museum's high platform, holding a glass of red wine.

He noticed Titus, noticed Titus's reddened eyes, his anger as exquisite as a meticulously crafted work of art.

Hannibal smiled slightly, raised a toast to Titus from afar, but did not drink it. He placed the toast steadily on the stone railing and then quickly left.

Titus burst into the museum, where the main hall was filled with artworks from all over the world. He ordered Starling to guard the first floor and find the back door before taking the spiral escalator to the top floor.

He rushed up the platform, glanced around, and saw no one.

The homemade binding table that binds Patch, the overturned wooden chair, the large screen showing a PowerPoint presentation, the burning red candles, and the pure white curtains fluttering in the wind!

The wind whipped the curtains open and swept through the room!

Titus ran to the window, an iron arched window that opened outwards, with a clearly visible footprint on the window frame.

That bastard escaped from here!

This is the third floor, and of course, because it's a museum, it's much taller than a typical residential building.

He looked out the window with a gaze as sharp as a hunting eagle.

Downstairs are a maze of alleys, a bustling market, and a constant flow of people, with vendor Chen Kai's stall and umbrella obscuring most of the view.

Lecter blended into the crowd and escaped. Did he go down using a rope?

It is unknown whether Titus jumped to the other side. If a tether was used, there were two residential buildings on the other side of the street, and the museum was separated from them by a narrow alley of about seven or eight meters.

The dense crowd made Titus's eyes go numb!

He suddenly shouted, "Hey!!"

People in alleyways, street corners, and markets were all drawn in and came to look!

Titus glanced over them.

However, he only noticed that a few damned pickpockets didn't turn around immediately.

Lecter was nowhere to be seen.

This is a useful little trick: in a bustling market, shout loudly and see who is looking at you, who has their back to you, who is not moving, and who is running away. Quickly identify the person with a guilty conscience.

Unfortunately, this tactic didn't work, and Lecter escaped.

Starling went upstairs upon hearing the noise. She saw Titus pressing his hand against the window, his eyes searching frantically. The window shattered, and she instantly understood.

"Starling, contact the local police department and lock down the entire area."

Titus closed his eyes, quickly reviewed what had just happened in his mind, and then opened them again, his eyes sharp as knives.

"First, call Crawford to report the situation and have him notify the FBI's legal counsel in Florence to work with the police to seal off the entire area and issue an arrest warrant."

Having said all that, Titus knew that rushing down now would only muddy the waters, and Lecter had long since returned to the sea, so he began to observe his surroundings.

This is a conference hall. Near the circular lectern, there is a pile of overturned chairs arranged in an irregular circle, while the chairs elsewhere are neatly arranged.

Titus deduced that Lecter had pinned Pazzi down with ether.

He smelled a strong, pungent odor, a sweet smell, and the smell of organic solvents. Ether is extremely volatile, and Lecter had no time to deal with it in his haste to escape.

Then... he saw white marks on the ground, tracks left by wheels.

Outside the meeting room is a balcony, on which is a pushchair. The pushchair is a three-wheeled chair that can go up stairs, with four legs and three wheels on each leg.

Lecter laid Pazzi down, tied him to a pushchair, pushed him to the balcony, then secured him with a chair and hanged him in front of the museum.

Hanging...

This was a very troublesome and symbolic way of dying. Why would Lecter choose hanging to deal with Pazzi?

While he was thinking, he noticed the PowerPoint presentation playing on a loop.

It was a small, similarly hanged figure, depicted in a gruesome cartoon style, with the name Francesco de Pazzi (the ancestor of Inspector Pazzi).

Below is a scrolling text:

"Pierre de la Vegna was ousted, blinded, and imprisoned."

"In Dante's Divine Comedy, he is placed in the seventh circle of Hell in the Inferno section, just like the traitor Judas of Jesus, who is hanged."

"In fact, in the Middle Ages, greed and hanging were often linked together."

Starling quickly replied to Titus:

"Crawford has contacted local authorities and will soon be sealing off the entire city of Florence. He will be coming over immediately to take charge. Until he arrives, you will have full command."

Titus nodded, thinking:

Dr. Lecter's hunt has begun, so run for your lives...

"Oh, right, there are two more bodies downstairs, they belong to Mason Viger's men," Starling said.

Mason Vijay...

Titus now knows the whole story. Pazzi was hired by Vijay to kidnap Lecter. The bounty on his head specifically stated that Lecter should be captured alive. Pazzi and Vijay's men went to the museum to hunt Lecter down, but unfortunately, they were killed by Silky.

The greedy Inspector Pazzi is practically a free lunch...

Mason Vijay, that old geezer, also wanted to get involved, but what really annoyed Titus right now was Hannibal's provocative toast...

He strode to the balcony, pulled up Pazzi's gutted body, and got covered in blood.

He laid Patch on the ground and covered him with a white sheet. At this moment, the local police arrived and took over the follow-up work.

Titus picked up the glass of red wine from the stone railing. The Tyrrhenian wind swept across the coast, through the plains, and over the five districts of Florence. He said:

"Starling, put Mr. Lecter's glass away; we'll have to return it later!"

……

Mason Vijay Estate, Chicago.

Vijay lay on the bed, with a cluster of electronic screens supported by a robotic arm in mid-air, displaying information about Mr. Lecter's whereabouts in Florence and Titus Gallagher's activities.

From being adopted by Peggy as a child to growing up in the Gallagher family in the South Side, attending West Point, and joining the FBI, Titus has it all.

Mr. Vijay's assessment of this was:

"An orphan."

Assistant Kold approached and bowed to report to the director:

"Mr. Vijay, the Patch operation failed and even alerted the local police and the FBI."

"The headquarters has sent word that they plan to seal off the entire Florence area. Should we withdraw our troops first?"

Vijay paused for a moment:

"No, if we retreat now, we'll never have another chance. Whether Lecter escapes or is captured by the FBI, we'll have no chance."

"Not only will we not retreat, but we'll also capture Lecter before the FBI makes a move, and then smuggle him out of the country by clandestine means!"

"But in this way, we obviously can't compete with the FBI in terms of searching."

Vijay took a deep breath and said:

"Give the order: find an opportunity to target Starling, disrupt the FBI's plans, and force Hannibal to show himself!"

Kold said:

"I don't understand, sir."

Vijay said:

"Hannibal Lecter will not allow anyone to get hurt because of him. He knows we are targeting him, not Starling, but it's all his fault, and his pride will not allow him to sneak away in such a despicable way."

"If a rabbit screams, a fox will come running at the sound, let alone its prey."

Kold was about to say something when he noticed that Vijay's gaze on his half-eye was growing increasingly cold.

"Hurry up and get on it!"