[Miss Marple]

I think you are right. I also am thinking the flower theory is even better than the Kleenex...because white dust on certain flowers, like lilies, would be asumed to be pollen. Lilies are also very fragrant, and the natural inclination is to sniff them.

Flowers are shipped into this country daily from South America.

The only thing with the flower theory is that if they were in the home for an extended time..there would surely be traces of anthrax in the home.

It would acount for the hospital worker, but then someone else in the hospital would have contracted anthrax as well.

Another thing that could be tampered with...nasal sprays, inhalers, and such, sold over the counter. The only problem with that is the packages would have to be tampered with.

[CIApilot]

One tidbit quietly mentioned then immediately hushed up about the NY woman is that she had recently returned from a trip to the Phillipines. What might have gone on there?

[krunkygirl]

oooh...this might be a real stretch...what if someone came to your door selling flowers? They hold out a bouquet of anthrax laced flowers for you to admire and, perhaps, smell and then, if you agree to make the purchase, hand over a 2nd bouquet that is not tampered with. Either way, whether the homeowner agrees to buy or not, the objective, inhaling the spores, has been met and no trace spores would be in the home...is this too farfetched?

[copycat]

Another thing that could be tampered with...nasal sprays, inhalers, and such, sold over the counter. The only problem with that is the packages would have to be tampered with.

Not if the perp works where the items are manufactured...

[Nick Danger]

Can any of you ladies think of a medical procedure in which you would take off your clothes, go through some drill, and then take a shower before you put your clothes back on? Whatever this is has to apply to a 94-year-old woman. Does such a thing exist?

I'm trying to figure out how somebody could encounter enough airborne spores to kill them without any of the spores getting on their clothes. These things are tiny, and there are millions of them. It's just not possible that they could go up the nose but nowhere else.

[maestro]

Your# 46).......??What about in soaps or laundry detergents??
Women would naturally 'smell' a new product.