[exim] spool_directory refusing permission to EXIM user

hi all,

i've Exim 4.53 RC1 on OSX 10.4.2

i'm in the process of getting spamassassin processing up & running.

when i send a msg from my MUA (Mulberry) via a non-exim server to my exim
setup, i see the logged spam processing:

    [2845] info: spamd: setuid to nobody succeeded
    [2845] info: spamd: checking message <F9E2F6DEE5CF2739D93FC3B7@devbox> for 
nobody:-2
    [2845] info: spamd: clean message (0.8/4.0) for nobody:-2 in 0.3 seconds, 951 
bytes.
    [2845] info: spamd: result: .  0 - SARE_SUB_9CONS_WORD 
scantime=0.3,size=951,user=nobody,uid=-2,required_score=4.0,rhost=localhost,raddr=127.0.0.1,rport=49205,mid=<F9E2F6DEE5CF2739D93FC3B7@devbox>,autolearn=no
    [2840] info: prefork: child states: II

but the message is not delivered further, due to an apparent permissions
problem.

i've been going round-n-around on this one / i'm clearly missing something ...

here are the details -->


exim-log shows:

    2005-09-15 19:46:40 IMW2DS-0002CH-DK <= devuser@??? 
H=server.mydomain.com (ns1.mydomain.com) [10.0.0.6] P=esmtps 
X=SSLv3:DES-CBC3-SHA:168 S=843 id=BE2CBF6B72AFC9F282844D65@devuser T="testtest" 
from <devuser@???> for newuser@???
    2005-09-15 19:46:41 IMW2DS-0002CH-DK Spool error for 
/var/Data/MailSpool/input//IMW2DS-0002CH-DK-D: Permission denied

where:

exim -bP XXX -->
    spool_directory = /var/Data/MailSpool
    exim_user = exim
    exim_group = exim

and,

    % ls -alR /var/Data/MailSpool
        /var/Data/MailSpool:
        total 0
        drwxrwx---   5 exim exim 170 Sep 15 19:46 .
        drwxrwxr-x  12 exim exim 408 Sep 15 19:03 ..
        drwxr-x---   4 exim exim 136 Sep 15 19:46 input
        drwxr-x---   3 exim exim 102 Sep 15 19:46 msglog
        drwxr-x---   2 exim exim  68 Sep 15 19:46 scan

        /var/Data/MailSpool/input:
        total 8
        drwxr-x---  4 exim exim  136 Sep 15 19:46 .
        drwxrwx---  5 exim exim  170 Sep 15 19:46 ..
        -rw-r-----  1 exim exim   25 Sep 15 19:46 IMW2DS-0002CH-DK-D
        -rw-r-----  1 exim exim 1260 Sep 15 19:46 IMW2DS-0002CH-DK-H

        /var/Data/MailSpool/msglog:
        total 4
        drwxr-x---  3 exim exim 102 Sep 15 19:46 .
        drwxrwx---  5 exim exim 170 Sep 15 19:46 ..
        -rw-r-----  1 exim exim 224 Sep 15 19:46 IMW2DS-0002CH-DK

        /var/Data/MailSpool/scan:
        total 0
        drwxr-x---  2 exim exim  68 Sep 15 19:46 .
        drwxrwx---  5 exim exim 170 Sep 15 19:46 ..

and,

    drwxrwx---  5  exim exim 170 Sep 15 19:46 /var/Data/MailSpool
    drwxrwxr-x  12 exim exim 408 Sep 15 19:03 /var/Data/
    drwxr-xr-x  29 root wheel 986 Sep 15 16:50 /var/

QUESTION:

"IMW2DS-0002CH-DK-D" and its parent dirs *seem* to have the perms for the
'exim' user ...
why am i getting the "Permission denied"?

any/all insight is appreciated!

thx!

richard