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Even though in real life, psychopaths and serial killers may not have the capacity to exhibit emotions that are specifically geared towards an individual, Hannibal Lecter was able to establish an idiosyncratic relationship with Clarice Starling. Albeit he was hesitant at first, owing to the realization that Starling was sent by Crawford as another pawn in trying to extract information from him to help with the Buffalo Bill case, he eventually became warm towards her. He also communicated with her during her visits and this made Starling uneasy at first, but she too was able to confide in him, possibly in order to gain his trust.

Lecter has the mental capacity to assist Starling in her pursuit of Buffalo Bill, but his motives for doing so were not profoundly elucidated in the movie. Perhaps in understanding why this is so, the need to be acquainted with the characters is warranted. We see at first that Lecter did not want to talk to Starling, but indeed she was persistent. She was on top of her class and she was chosen, as believed by Dr. Chillton, for this task because Crawford knew that Lecter would not be able to resist her. But even though this may be apparent for Starling, her drive and passion for her studies may have surpassed this phase already and instead of succumbing to this intrusion, she was very objective and logical, but always doing her work with a heart. Her character was strong enough to possibly overthrow any boundaries being setup by Lecter or even the mere fact that he was willing to talk to her was made possible.

There may be several explanations as to why this is so, aside from the strong and head on approach by Starling which did not seemed to work at first. After their first conversation wherein Lecter clearly denied Starling of the chance to converse with him, Starling accepted this and walked away. But as she was walking away and leaving, Lecter suddenly changed his mind. As to why this happened, one can only postulate. A reason for this sudden turn of events may be because of Lecter wanting to test Starling. If the motive will be to test her and to evaluate her abilities as a future FBI agent in addition to the mentoring and quizzing skills of Lecter also being tested, one can assume that this is the reason why he sent out a clue to her and made her solve the puzzle. It could be possible that Lecter was not expecting Starling to be able to respond inquisitively and intelligently to this task, but as it turns out she was able to follow through with his clues. This may also prove that Lecter might be looking for someone who can outsmart him, or at least reach the level that he wants his students to be or those that he wants to raise as his apprentice. While doing so, he might also be able to manipulate Starling into becoming a part of his plans of probably escaping the asylum eventually.

When Starling passed his test, he knew that he would be able to convey all his messages to her and she would be able to comprehend these, in the event that he would not tell the truth in front of several individuals. A mentor-like approach to handling Starling is the fact that he did not give direct information to her, but instead he gave clues and in those clues he wanted her to discern what he was trying to say. This attitude is very much like what professors do when discussing, and Starling was smart enough to engage in a discourse with Lecter.

 In passing, there was also rapport that was built between the two, and although trust may not really be present in this kind of setting, there was a form of trust that could be seen between them. And most importantly, Lecter was not just giving information freely to Starling, he asked for information too about her in return. The problem with this exchange is that while it may seem harmful at first to ask about personal questions about her, Lecter was already formulating thoughts about figuring her out, about manipulating and utilizing this information against her if the need to do so arises.

Aside from becoming mentor-like towards Starling and testing her if she was worthy of his time, he could also be having a paternal instinct towards her. He knew somehow by his profiling of her that she was wounded and was leaning towards this job as her only sanctuary. This allowed him to exploit this need by Starling to solve the murder case. In the realm of the movie, Lecter was not a man totally devoid of emotions, in fact, his small gestures has shown that he almost had a fatherly instinct towards her. He handed over a towel for Starling when she was wet from the rain when she was enthusiastically talking about finding a decapitated head in a storage rental, he also called her to tell her that she is not going to be eaten by Lecter in spite and despite of the fact that he was out of his cell and to congratulate her on her feat. Considering that Lecter is not devoid of emotions, a person like him would still want to be needed and leaned on to and his success will just add to his already bulging ego.

This brings about another possible motive behind wanting to aid Starling in solving the case, to add another credential to his already long list of achievements that includes his appetite for human flesh. If Lecter cooperates and helps in solving the case, it might be for the first time and he wanted to do it because it might have something to do with the fact that he wants to prove something to Starling, but it might not be because of wanting to prove something to the whole world. He might possibly pass that phase already. We may not know whether or not he it was true when he said that he is acquainted with the killer which makes the case really simple for him and it poses no challenge already. Or he might have said that because he knew that they will believe him. It is still a mental puzzle, and he might have enjoyed the interaction and the process of being involved with it, furthermore, he was able to go outside for a short period of time when he met with the Senator, and this even paved the way for his escape. Because it might be impossible for a man of his wisdom to believe that any of the intended negotiations is true and will be done if he gives up the name of the killer. Whereas, if he helps Starling he might gain an ally, even though it might be extremely impossible to set this up, and Starling might later on find herself not saying no to Lecters wishes.

Another possible reason why he wanted to help Starling with the case is because he might also be considering Bill to be his rival, although he knows that he is the only person who can be that morbid and gory. If Lecter is to treat Bill as a threat to his achievements as a psychopath serial killer, then that is motive enough for him to try to aid Starling catch Bill. But this theory might be the weakest because Lecter has within himself a huge appreciation of who he is and who he is not, wherein which the identification of a killer who might be like him will not weaken him. But it could possibly be that he wanted his reign to come back and he saw this as an opportunity for manipulation and escape above all.

Whatever his causes are for helping Starling, he definitely saw a loophole wherein he was able to achieve his hidden agenda. Whether is was escaping from the asylum or manipulating several important figures, or getting his revenge on his psychiatrist Dr. Chillton, it can be assumed based on the ending of the movie that he got what he wanted. It is important though that in analyzing this concept that Lecter, as presented in the movie, has the emotional capacities that are usually devoid of psychopaths and serial killers because of his rapport with Starling that is considered to be the first one to happen in all of Crawfords minions. It might be important to notice that it could also be due to Starlings exemplary performance in her work that might have caused the guidance of Lecter in solving the case and is not purely based on Lecters hidden agenda alone.