Will nodded in reply. "I learned when I was very young, and since I have a lot of land, it's still possible. It's something to practice and be good at, as well as being still at least marginally socially acceptable. It's an aggression release as one might imagine, but it's also surgical and precise." He belatedly realized that not all that information was necessary, and changed the subject, feeling awkward.
The other question Dr. Lecter had asked was more interesting anyway. "When I say I can see their points of view," Will began, then realized he wasn't entirely sure. He had to stop for a second, trying to get the words to line up in his head before he let them out. "The best way I can explain is with an example. I recently read a biography of the Green River killer, Gary Ridgway. He murdered at least forty-six women over twenty years. I understand, from the testimony given, why he did what he did. But I also understand the writer's unspoken revulsions." The writer of that book had been near desperate to distance himself from his subject matter, treating Ridgway like a lab experiment in his choice of words. A different writer might have come closer to the figurative cage.