My mind, too steeped in Midwestern American philosophic positivism, cannot comprehend, much less cope with, the "chain of consciousness" exchanges in what is sure to become famous as the "elongated ear lobe thread."

For me, things need a little more structure, and that is what I propose to provide below.

Jerry, what I propose is a segment in which three rug scholars interact. One a long-time member of the Washington rug museum staff is a staunch defender of Irene Emry's work on rug structure. The second is, a tall, mild-mannered (but no Clark Kent) independent scholar, but also, suspiciously, a high end rug and textile dealer.

These two have similar but distinctive positions on rug analysis. They both believe it is possible to describe rugs and textiles structurally, "as found," so to speak, that is, regardless of the way in which they have been "thrown down" on the examination table.

Opposed to them is a Southern lady of conflicting views, who insists that the "perspective of the weaver" must always be honored and that anyone benighted enough to do otherwise should be "strung up" in one of the structures they are insisting on describing incorrectly.

And that is what happens. Structural "virtue" is sustained. The weaver's experience is vindicated. Two well-intentioned but myopic rug scholars, who were doing more damage than they suspected are inadvertently "caught up," so to speak in the "coils" of their own benighted analyses (I have not decided which structures are the best candidates here. Perhaps some particularly lethal kind of "reverse sumak.")

The two erring stuctural analysts do not "hang" but are trapped and asphyxiated in structures which they have described but which could not have been woven. For this reason, of course, they can also not be taken apart, although both of the analysts were still breathing (shallowly) when found.

One of the fascinating aspects of these two deaths is that they appear to be aberrations from those of the serial killer's other victims, since, although their sins of perspective caused great damage in the rug world, neither intended this effect at all.

More, it is hard to connect their deaths to the serial killer since, he/she could produce the Southern lady (a formidable courtroom witness) to demonstate that the structures that resulted in these two deaths could not be woven. A knotty matter indeed.

Regards,

R. John Howe