The Kinko's Connection

By Elaine Shannon

Now that they have opened the anthrax-laced letter to Senator Pat Leahy and determined that it is virtually identical to the one sent to Senator Tom Daschle, where do federal gumshoes go next? FBI sources tell TIME that one promising avenue for investigation lies in the fact that the letter was photocopied. Most people don't realize that photocopy machines leave a "fingerprint" as the result of tiny scratches and dirt on the photocopier's glass and optical system. The FBI lab will examine the Leahy letter for these tiny anomalies. Goal: to figure out what kind of copier the terrorist used and perhaps even track down the specific machine. The FBI can't examine every copying machine in the country, of course, but if agents eventually come up with some suspects, they could home in on copying businesses and libraries near their homes and offices. Agents would probably visit all high-volume businesses in such areas, like Kinko's, whose convenience seems as appealing to bad guys as to the public. Among recent notorious customers: the Sept. 11 terrorists, who made their plane reservations on the computers at a Florida Kinko's, and anthrax hoaxer Clayton Lee Waagner, who was arrested last week at a Kinko's near Cincinnati, Ohio.

--By Elaine Shannon