Watching it again... so they figure out the Tooth Fairy is communicating through The Tattler with Lektor, but the agents intercept a note that says "forgive the paper - I wanted it to be able to dissolve easily if you must swallow it." Doesn't that mean he was sending actual letters? Also, how is Lektor paying for his personals to the Tooth Fairy?
shareContraband is easy to imagine in this case. I'm sure Barney may have been bought off as he is shown stealing and selling Lektor's leftovers in Hannibal. Potentially the same as far as playing ads; having an outside party willing to post the ads for him. If not that then credit card fraud is also another possible avenue to paying for them. I'm guessing Lektor had a number of fans out there willing to foot the bill as well.
But, yeah, if someone has something more concrete that would be great to hear.
Pretty sure the movie says they need a warrant to actually open Lecter's mail.
shareI don't believe you need a warrant for a prisoner. I know in 'regular' prisons they read the mail and look for contraband before giving it to the inmates.
shareHe's not in a regular prison. He's in an asylum. But, in the movie, he's a convicted murderer, so that probably doesn't make as much sense. They'd probably still be able to search his mail in that case.
It probably makes more sense in the book. In the book, Lecter isn't a convicted killer. He's found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to the asylum.
Two ways I can see it happening.
1) He sent the letter to Hannibal pretending to be his attorney. In which they couldn't open it without permission.
2) Hannibal still consults with other physicians. Anything they sent would be covered by doctor/patient privilege and couldn't be opened.
BTW: You can rule out Barney being paid off. In the books, Hannibal talks about how meticulous Barney is guarding him and credits him with making it difficult to get away with things. Hannibal wasn't even able to pull off his escape until he was out of Barney's care, which was his primary motivation for getting the transfer in Silence of the Lambs.
I too wonder about this, the writing was on absorbable toilet paper - the kind they use on boats, in case Lecter had to swallow it quickly, I cannot imagine Barney being so unprofessional to be bought off, it would mean that Barney had been contacted by Dolarhyde and said nothing... Plus in the book it describes Dolarhyde coming up with a simpler idea of how to get a message to Lecter, but for the life of me I cannot think what it is, how would Dolarhyde know which cell Lecter was in?
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