Question: When Will mentions that Lecter was given sodium amytal in hopes of finding the location of a student that Lecter killed, Lecter instead gave them a recipe for dip. How was Lecter able to lie? Wouldn't giving him the amytal have made him tell the FBI where the student was?
TedStixon
13th Jan 2022
Red Dragon (2002)
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Answer: So-called "truth serums" don't actually work like you think they do. They are super unreliable. Sure, they can sometimes make subjects more open and willing to talk... but just as often (if not more so), they can make the subjects super suggestible, which can lead to things like false memories, altered memories, and even false confessions. Or they can simply have no effect on the subject whatsoever besides making them a little high and groggy. There's a reason they typically aren't used and aren't always trusted. It's possible that Lecter either wasn't affected by the drug, or was simply able to keep a sound-enough mind to not divulge information. Of course, there's also the chance that Lecter hid the relevant information in the recipe... as he likes to hide information out in the open, disguised as other things... (Which he did several times in "The Silence of the Lambs").
TedStixon