"All we ask is that you keep an open mind."  Carefully, using both hands,
Dr. Lecter lifted off the top of Krendler's Head, put it on the salver and removed it to
the sideboard.  Hardly a drop of blood fell from the clean incision, the major blood
vessels having been tied and the others neatly sealed under a local anesthetic, and the
skull sawn around in the kitchen a half-hour before the meal.
    Dr. Lecter's method in removing the top of Krendler's skull was as old as
Egyptian medicine, except that he had the advantage of an autopsy saw with a cranial
blade, a skull key and better anesthetics.  The brain itself feels no pain.
    The pinky-gray dome of Krendler's brain was visible above his truncated skull......