Though initially friendly, the commune’s relations with the local populace soon soured. After being denied building permits for expansion of Rajneeshpuram, the commune leadership sought to gain political control by dominating the November 1984 county elections.

“The bhagwan and his crazies wanted to win judgeships on the Wasco County Circuit Court and elect the sheriff,” I said. “But they weren’t certain they could carry the day. So they poisoned restaurant salad bars with salmonella, hoping to incapacitate adverse voters.”

“Exactly,” Williams said. “Salmonella enterica was first delivered through glasses of water to two county commissioners and then, on a larger scale, to the salad bars. Seven hundred and fifty-one people got sick, forty-five of whom were hospitalized. The incident was the first and single largest bioterrorist attack in United States history.”

“I remember,” Larabee said. “They finally nailed the little creep right here in Charlotte. It was national news.”

Larabee was right. Back in the eighties, few in the country had heard of a quiet southern city called Charlotte other than for its school integration and mandatory busing. The arrest conferred notoriety, and the citizenry got a kick out of it. We Bagged the Bhagwan T-shirts did a booming business.

“In 1985 a task force was formed, composed of members of the Oregon State Police and the FBI,” Williams continued. “When a search warrant was executed, a sample of bacteria matching the contaminant that had sickened the town residents was found in a Rajneeshpuram medical laboratory. Two commune officials were indicted. Both served time in a minimum-security federal prison.”

Williams looked pointedly at me. “A third disappeared.”

“Eli Hand,” I guessed.

Williams nodded.

“Hand was a twenty-year-old chemistry major at Oregon State University. In the spring of 1984 he fell under the influence of the bhagwan, dropped out of school, and moved to Rajneeshpuram.”

“Just months before the salad bars were spiked.”

“Hand was suspected of having helped orchestrate the poisonings. Following the bhagwan’s arrest and deportation, Hand left the commune.”

“And came east?”

“Yes. Convinced his spiritual master had been persecuted, Hand grew increasingly disillusioned with the government. He spent time in western Carolina, eventually joined a group of right-wingers called the Freedom Brigade. When that fell apart, he drifted to the Charlotte area, in time hooked up with J. D. Danner.”

“And his Patriot Posse.”

“Yes.”

“So the FBI had Hand under surveillance?” Larabee asked.

“We were tracking a lot of people back then. Intel had it that Hand and his buddies hid Eric Rudolph for a while.”

“Where is he now?” I knew the answer to that.

“Hand slipped off the grid in 2000.”

“You never found him again,” I said.

“No.”

“But now you have.”

Williams gave a tight nod. “An odontologist says it’s a match.”

That surprised me. “You found dental antemorts?”

“Hand’s mother still lives in Portland. Eli had an orthodontic evaluation when he was twelve. She still had the plaster casts and X-rays. The odont said it was enough for a positive.”