corrente

My goodness. Frist's ricin Reichstag fire is looking more and more like one of those "locked room" murdur mysteries. Nobody seems to know how the ricin got there!

Time

Beyond that, investigators tell TIME that the powder found in Frist's mail room was mostly paper dust, with traces of ricin so minute, they can't even be evaluated for particle size or purity. No envelope or note has been found, and no other piece of mail from the Senate has even a trace of ricin on it. Neither do any door sills, doorknobs, railings or surfaces anywhere in the building. Same goes for air filters, which should catch floating particles.

That leads to a couple of theories. Perhaps an envelope in Frist's mail room contained a letter that was forwarded to the DOT, where Fallen Angel's grudge is aimed. Or maybe the letter was simply sent by someone who had previously handled ricin. "Let's say he didn't send us any product," says an investigator. "He's just sloppy. It's on his fingers, on his hands, or he's using the same envelopes, same paper. That may be why we don't have anything."

Well, there's one more theory, isn't there? That would be that the envelope was hand carried into the room. Who could that be? Could it be someone who had an interest in publicizing a "terrorist threat" against Republicans? Someone who announced, on the Senate floor, that he was certain it was ricin before all the tests were complete? Someone who could be hyping his book?

Just asking.... But motive, means, and opportunity go a long way in any investigation, don't they?