It's been years since I've seen the movie. Why did Carl automatically assume "Barry Allen" was a kid after learning that was the flash's real name? Barry Allen can't be that uncommon of a name that only comic readers would have heard the name. He never guessed frank was a teenager after he was fooled by him in the apartment so why now?
shareBecause Frank also didnt have a record
shareI think it was a combination of a somewhat lucky guess and a strong, but not conclusive, hint. When Carl heard that "Barry Allen" was the name of a comic hero famed for his speed, he thought that the choice of that name was something of an in-joke made by the guy on the run for himself. Hence the teenager guess. Of course a person not at all into comics could, coincidentally, have come up with the same name, but the hint is there, I think.
shareHe mentions that Frank didn't have a record, didn't have fingerprints. That would support the hunch that Frank is a child, as children wouldn’t have records and fingerprints on file.
Combined with the fact that he saw Frank and, therefore, knew Frank was very young; he was able to make the conjecture.
Ironically in real life, Abagnale didn't use comic book characters as aliases. That was created for the movie. Of course, Carl was also created for the movie as well. He was an amalgam of several agents who pursued Frank over the years.
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