Where have you been? I've been waiting since 7:00.
Get in. I had to find fireworks.
Let me drive.
Get in. I haven't eaten in 24 hours.
Are you coming or not?
It's too crowded.
I thought you were starving.
Let's go someplace quiet.
Okay.
What are we doing?
Sitting. Listening to music. Talking.
- You seem weird. Is everything okay? - Yeah, everything's fine.
It's July. How many shirts are you wearing?
- I'm cold. - You're cold on the Fourth of July?
Fuck off and die!
- What? - "Fuck off and die"?
Shut up.
Was that car at the drive-in?
I saw that car at Mr. Ed's.
- Do you want me to tell him to leave? - Stay in the car.
- Was that your husband? - No.
Who was that, Darlene?
Don't worry about it.
- Don't tell me not to worry. Who was it? - It's nothing.
Oh, shit.
Let's go.
Now, D.
Get your wallet.
Man, you really creeped us out.
- Vallejo Police Department. - I want to report a double murder.
May I have your name and where you are calling...
If you go one mile east on Columbus Parkway,
a public park, you'll find kids in a brown car.
They were shot with a 9mm Luger.
I also killed those kids last year.
Goodbye.
Spit.
Come on, buddy.
- I swallowed it. - Why?
It was minty.
You can't do that. It's not good for you.
Lunch box.
- Why am I not going on the bus? - Because we're late.
Okay, you're staying with your mom and Aaron tonight.
So, you don't like having a new little brother?
- No, not really. - Oh, that's honest.
Learn a lot.
There will be a test tonight!
Morning.
- Hi. - Good morning.
- Morning. - Morning.
How's the coffee today, Shorty?
Editorial in two.
Good morning, gentlemen.
- Good morning. - Good morning.
Well, Stanton, tell Mr. Howe
the draft board piece was damn near perfect.
Mr. Graysmith.
Horrid.
Not so horrid.
Horrid. I'm thinking we go with not so horrid.
Paul, what's on the crime beat?
Janice in Datebook left the fondue party before everyone got naked.
That's a crime.
Have you seen her? Wouldn't kid you.
It may be the beginning of a crime wave.
You need to see this.
Go get the publisher.
"Dear Editor,
"This is the murderer
"of the two teenagers last Christmas at Lake Herman
"and the girl on the Fourth of July near the golf course in Vallejo.
"To prove I killed them,
"I shall state some facts which only I and the police know.
"Christmas, brand name of ammo, Super-X.
"Ten shots were fired.
"The boy was on his back with his feet to the car.
"The girl..."
Would you read that, please?
"The girl was on her right side, feet to the west.
"Fourth of July.
"One, girl was wearing patterned slacks.
"The boy was also shot in the knee.
"Brand name of ammo was Western.
"Here is part of a cipher.
"The other two parts of this cipher are being mailed to the editors of
"the Vallejo Times and S.F. Examiner.
"I want you to print this cipher on the front page of your paper.
"In this cipher is my identity.
"If you do not print this cipher by the afternoon of Fry,"
F-R-Y, "First of Aug '69 I will go on a kill rampage Fry night.
"I will cruise around all weekend killing lone people in the night
"then move on to kill again
"until I end up with a dozen people over the weekend."
It's unsigned except for a symbol.
Is it me, or does that look like a gunsight?
Today's August first.
He wants his code in the afternoon edition.
If the Examiner doesn't have the balls to run it, we scoop the Bay.
Al, this man is talking about shooting 12 people.
And not running this might make him do that.
If we run it, we might be setting a very dangerous precedent.
Oh, come on, now, it's newsworthy.
Well, giving some sick bastard a soapbox,
what does that say to people?
Back up. Is this Vallejo story true? Do we know that?
- Paul? - What? I cover crime in Vallejo?
Yeah, I cover crime in Vallejo. Ten minutes.
Let's shoot the code and call SFPD.
If it turns out to be real, at least we'll have the material.
All right.
Graysmith, don't you have that cartoon to finish?
Oh, yeah.
Hi, this is Paul Avery from the San Francisco Chronicle.
I'm looking for someone to shed some light on a letter we received.
Thank you.
Sergeant Mulanax.
Sergeant, Paul Avery from the San Francisco Chronicle.
I just wanted to check
if you had an unsolved firearm-related homicide
on Christmas and maybe one on July fourth.
Shit.
You guys got one, too?
Confirmed. VPD, they confirmed the shootings.
Al's on the phone with the Examiner.
They got the same letter with a different code.
So did Times-Herald.
Christmas, two teenagers on lover's lane. Both DOA.
David Faraday and Betty Jensen.
July fourth, Darlene Ferrin and Michael...
I think it's "Mayhew." Anyway, he lived, she didn't.
The murder weapons?
Ballistics, everything he said in the letters matched.
I mean, I think the Times-Herald's gonna go with it.
The Examiner's going, but won't go front page.
I say let's go front page. If he kills 12 people, it's not our fault.
Robert! We need the cartoon.
- You're not finished? - No, I'm finished, Carol. I'm finished.
Thieriot's still here.
Really?
The first edition is off the floor in 10, Charles.
Give us a sec.
Okay, re-plate.
We'll go on page... Page four.
What do you say, 20 bucks whoever cracks the psycho's name?
He won't give his name.
Morti's? Anyone?
- That's where I'm heading. - All right.
Put those on my desk. Turn on the light.
Grab your book.
Now go get your jammies on.
All right, people, listen up.
The cipher's broken into three sections, each with eight lines and 17 symbols.
No breaks between the symbols denoting different words.
No numbers or clues to substitution keys.
And you got symbols from at least seven different sources.
Greek, Morse code, Navy semaphore, weather symbols, astrological signs.
- Hey, take a gander at this code thing. - Okay.
You wanna give it a go?
Guy who used to sit there was a great cartoonist. Bob Bastian.
Now he's doing public television. For some reason.
Paul Avery.
Robert Graysmith. I've been here nine months.
You were right, by the way. He didn't give his name.
Who cracked it?
A history teacher and his wife in Salinas.
"I like killing people because it is so much fun.
"It is more fun than killing wild game in the forest
"because man is the most dangerous animal of all to kill.
"Something gives me the most thrilling experience.
"It is even better than getting your rocks off with a girl.
"The best part of it is that when I die,
"I will be reborn in paradise.
"And all that I have killed will become my slaves.
"I will not give you my name because you will try to slow down
"or stop my collecting of slaves for my afterlife."
Methinks our friend's a tad bit fuckered in the head.
I heard he even sent Vallejo a code key, just to help.
- What is that at the bottom? - Leftovers.
Maybe an anagram.
How does one do that?
I like puzzles. I do them a lot.
How did you know he wasn't gonna give his name?
Dangerous animal.
What dangerous animal? How do I know that?
- Paul. - Yes, Templeton.
- Editorial, now. - Very well.
Another letter.
More of the same. Details about the murders.
He taped a flashlight to the gun. That's how he hit them in the dark.
And he gave himself a name.
You know this used to be the town of Montecello?
But at some point,
the county decided that the land would work better as a lake.
So they flooded it.
- But there's an entire... - Hidden city under the water.
We were here last spring, remember?
Oh, yeah.
Somebody else is here.
It is a public park.
I think he's watching us.
Well, we're very good-looking.
Where'd he go?
He went behind that tree.
All right. So he's taking a leak.
He's coming towards us.
Oh, my God, he has a gun.
Don't move.
- I want your money and your car keys. - Okay.
We're not gonna do anything, okay?
We're gonna cooperate. Just tell me what you want us to do.
Here.
You're welcome to everything I have.
If there's anything else I could do for you...
Maybe I could write you a check?
Okay, I could give you my phone number.
You know, I might be able to help you.
Even more than you might think.
He's a sociology major.
Pre-law, actually.
Oh, keys.
You know, I'm sorry, I don't know exactly where I put my keys.
They might be on the blanket. Is it okay if...
Here's the keys.
Don't get up.
I want her to tie you up.
Okay.
You know, if he comes any closer, I might be able to get that gun.
- Don't get any ideas. - I'm not.
I killed a guard escaping from prison in Montana.
I'm not doing anything, okay?
I'm not afraid to kill again.
Look away.
What was the name of that prison?
Hey, you said it was in Montana, right?
I'm taking your car.
I'm going to Mexico.
We didn't complain when you tied our hands.
Okay, you have everything that I have.
We have done everything that you've asked.
It's okay. It's okay.
She tied you loose, didn't she?
Get on your stomach so I can tie your feet.
Okay. It gets really cold out here at night.
We could freeze.
Okay, you all done?
You know, just because people are gonna ask,
was that thing even loaded?
It's okay.
This is all gonna be okay.
Dispatch, this is 43L2, heading south on Knoxville Road.
I've got an abandoned white VW Karmann-Ghia...
Napa Police Department.
I want to report a murder. No, a double murder.
They are two miles north of park headquarters.
They were in a white Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia.
I'm the one that did it.
43L2 has a male victim with him.
Piner's ambulance has been dispatched.
Boy lived, the girl didn't. Again.
God, can you imagine surviving something like that?
Writing the dates on the side of the car.
We got two Vallejo killings, now there's one in Napa. Why Napa?
What the hell is he doing out of Vallejo?
Sweet mother of Christ, what are you drawing?
Kid at the lake.
This is what he said the Zodiac was wearing.
God, that's a hell of a get-up.
- Paul, what are you doing? - Hyman, I wrote it. It's done.
Now I just got to type it up.
Type it up? It's not finished until you type it up.
We've got to read it.
- What's that? - That's the Zodiac at the lake.
What's the story with the kid?
He seems a little touched or medicated or...
- Graysmith? - Yeah, what is it?
He's a fucking boy scout.
He doesn't smoke, he doesn't drink, he doesn't curse.
- And he's back. - I knew it.
"Man is the most dangerous animal of all."
I knew that I heard that from somewhere.
The Most Dangerous Game.
It's a movie about a Count who hunts people for sport.
People.
The Most Dangerous Game.
- Who's that? - That's Count Zaroff.
Zaroff? With a "Z"?
And that will be all for the news on the 20.
We've got curfews in effect tonight for the following counties,
Napa, Solano, Contra Costa, Alameda, Marin, and San Mateo.
So please, everyone, stay safe.
Vic in San Francisco, you're on the line. You're not scared of the Zodiac?
Heck no, he's only shooting those farm kids.
What scares me is those hippies out in the Haight
with their free love and weird clothes.
We've got Alfred from Vacaville.
You know, I think that was really offensive.
It's not just farm kids.
These are nice, clean-cut young people.
Hey, nobody's downplaying the loss of human life here, Alfred.
Well, that last guy was.
We have good solid communities out here in the North Bay.
Unlike in the city where you have Satanists running around.
Well, you bring up a good question. Is the Zodiac a Satanist?
Amber from Oakland, what do you think?
I don't really know,
but I thought that code they printed didn't look very Christian.
But I think the bigger problem is that the papers shouldn't have printed
anything that the Zodiac has been doing.
That they're just printing all that stuff to sell more newspapers.
Well, the Zodiac did demand they print his letters
or he'd kill more people.
Yeah, but he would have done it anyway,
whether they printed it or not, I think.
An interesting point.
So, what do you think he'll do next?
- San Francisco Police Department. - Yes. There's a fight in a cab!
What is your location?
3398 Washington, at the corner of Cherry.
One's drunk and we think he's robbing him.
- Is the crime still in progress? - Yes, please hurry.
Oh, my God, look!
Nuts!
Whoever this is, you owe me a new lamp.
Cabbie's been shot three blocks from the Presidio.
Well, it wasn't me. I've been with my bride all night.
- She can vouch. - Go put on the Folgers.
You'll pick me up?
Let me just describe the lamp you're gonna buy me.
- I just got to sleep. - Suspect's Negro, male adult.
Walt's on scene, locked up the cab and secured the crowd.
Seriously, dead asleep. I lost feeling in my arm and everything.
Crackers.
You ever try Japanese food?
- What do you mean, like teriyaki? - No, like the urchin.
- Raw fish. - I'm eating here, Bill.
- I always wanted to try it. - So, why don't you?
Haven't got around to it.
Evening, gents. What a lovely night for a botched robbery.
Yeah, third this week. Must be end of summer rush.
I got foot patrols going through the park, dogs are on the way.
The victim's name is Paul Stine. Dousette pronounced him at 10:10.
Suspect fired one shot to the back of the head.
Driver's wallet and car keys are missing.
How'd you know his name?
Leroy, there, came down from Yellow Cab to ID him.
Neighborhood's pretty high-end for this kind of thing,
so I already set up transpo for the cab.
- Coroner's here. - Any witnesses?
Kids who called it in saw the suspect from that window.
- Did they hear a shot? - No.
They first saw him in the front seat,
thought he was a drunk fighting with the driver.
Oldest kid ran downstairs to get a better look from the dining room,
described him as a white male, glasses,
crew-cut, stocky, and wearing a dark jacket.
Wait, I thought someone said he was black.
That's the description that went out to radio cars.
- We already corrected it. - Oh, well, that's good.
- You guys need anything else? - No. Get out of here.
Thanks. Happy Birthday.
- Wait, it's your birthday? - Yep.
- That's great. Happy birthday. - Thanks.
- Body or scene? - It's your birthday, I'll take the body.
Dave, looks like he wiped the cab down pretty good.
- We got some blood over here. - Prints?
Could very well be. We'll dust it at the Hall.
The odd thing is, we also got gloves.
- Suspect's? - There's blood on them.
- Hey, Pete? - Yeah, Dave.
You through over there, can I get in there?
Yeah, I'm all set.
- Who rolled him? - Stewarts.
I got a single 9mm casing.
Yeah, Luger.
Nothing from the crowd.
Okay. I'm your shooter, Negro male adult,
who also happens to be a stocky, crew-cut Caucasian.
I flag a cab. I give him this address.
Did I give him this address? Who's got the fare book?
Right here.
Washington and Maple. That's one block east.
Lighting's the same over here,
so maybe I see someone walking their dog.
You don't want any witnesses so you tell him to go down a block.
He pulls over.
I wait for him to put it in park because I'm smart
and I don't want him hitting the accelerator
when I shoot him. May I?
He stops, puts it in park, boom.
I shoot him on the right side, he slumps right?
Maybe you've got your hand on his collar when you shoot.
All right. So, either way,
I just dumped a quart of blood in the front seat.
- So, why do you get in the front seat? - For the money.
But he's dead.
You could just reach over the seat, pull out his wallet.
You don't have to go anywhere near the blood.
So, why'd he get in the front seat?
- I'm an idiot. - But you're not an idiot.
You waited for him to put it in park.
- Right. Thank you. - Yeah, sure.
- Can I see that? - Yeah.
I am an idiot. I just killed a man for $8.25.
It's his third fare of the night. Does anyone have any animal crackers?
- Animal crackers? - They're in the car.
I'm saving those for later.
Fine.
- Are you a reporter? - No, I'm Inspector Dave Toschi, SFPD.
Sir, I was wondering if I'd be able to talk to your children,
one at a time and preferably alone?
They just saw a man murdered.
I understand.
It looked like they were drunk and fighting.
Yeah, and he had a rag.
He came around the side of the car and he was wiping stuff.
- Did you get a chance to see his face? - I did.
Well, sort of.
Did you remember what he looked like?
- Normal. - Yeah.
"Normal?"
"This is the Zodiac speaking.
"I am the murderer of the taxi driver
"over by Washington Street and Maple Street last night.
"To prove this, here is a blood-stained piece of his shirt.
"I am the same man who did in the people in the North Bay Area.
"The S.F. Police could have caught me last night
"if they had searched the park properly
"instead of holding road races with their motorcicles."
- Gentlemen. - Dave.
Paul. Where's the shirt?
Right there, boss.
There's your rag the kids talked about.
So he got in the front seat to tear off a piece of the shirt.
- Is this on the record? - Well, what do you think?
He confirms the Vallejo and Napa killings.
Gets worse.
Robert, do you have a deadline?
What does he mean, it gets worse?
Read the last part.
"School children make nice targets.
"I think I shall wipe out a school bus some morning.
"Just shoot out the front tire
"and then pick off the kiddies as they come bouncing out."
Jesus Christ, who's got school buses? Department of Transportation?
- School board. - All right.
I'm gonna need elimination prints from your staff.
Has anyone here didn't touch this letter?
On my way back to my desk. They have phones, if you want.
We need to get matches on blood and fabric.
I'll call Napa and Vallejo,
get the letters up to Sherwood in Sacramento.
Dave, just one thing. Is it true they got a print off the cab?
Yeah, we got a partial in blood.
- But that is not for publication. - Hey, hey, come on.
Hey, it's me.
Did he say they got a print?
Partial.
Whoa.
Dude, he wears his gun like Bullitt.
No, McQueen got that from Toschi.
Does he think that Zodiac's gonna send another code?
'Cause I think Zodiac's gonna send another code.
Jesus Harold Christ on rubber crutches, Bobby.
What are you doing?
You're doing that thing, the thing we discussed,
the thing that I don't like. Starts with an "L."
- Oh, looming. - Yeah.
In cooperation with SFPD, we will run the Zodiac letter
without including the threat on school children.
We don't want to start a city-wide panic
so I'm asking all of you to please keep this confidential.
Just go about your daily business.
Thank you.
I packed you your carrots and your soda and peanut butter, okay?
- Dad, you don't have to wait with me. - I know.
You know what? You know what? I'm gonna drive him today, okay?
Come on.
What's that?
Similarities in the lowercase "r's."
And that?
It is you waiting in the hall if you speak again.
I have to concentrate.
Sorry.
"Sorry" counts as speaking.
There are similarities in the lowercase "r's."
We have to release the bus threat.
- It'll screw us. - We're already screwed.
We just went from "Routine Cabbie Shooting"
to "Mass Murderer Targets Kids."
The Zodiac Killer has come to San Francisco.
Confirmation tonight,
from the San Francisco Police Department
that in his latest haunting letter,
which takes credit for the murder of cab driver Paul Stine,
the Zodiac has threatened to, "Wipe out a school bus
"and pick off the kiddies as they come bouncing out."
If you think you might know who the Zodiac is,
you can call the San Francisco Police Department's newest tip line.
Press conference is at 4:00. We got to give them something.
We're coordinating with the school board,
and we expect a break in the case very soon.
- What do we really got? - We're swamped.
When they can't get anyone on the tip line
they call the switchboard and keep getting put through.
You got any hard suspects?
About 90 an hour. I'm up to around 500.
Well, can't you narrow it down?
I would love to, if I could get out of this...
- Homicide, please hold. - Yeah, hold, please.
We're gonna need to tell them we got the entire force on this.
How many men can you give me?
Well, right now, it's you and Bill and Monday's a school day.
Yeah, I know, Chief. I have three daughters of my own.
Yeah, I know. Where's Armstrong?
He's on the phone with Vallejo.
We're playing catch up, Jack.
I'd like to set up a meeting with your survivor, Michael Mageau.
I can't. He skipped town.
The only guy who's seen Zodiac without a mask is missing?
When he was still in the hospital we could show him lineups all day long.
As soon as he got out, he split.
Really? Why?
I don't think he wanted to have anything to do with this.
Can you send us everything that you have?
Well, the road goes both ways.
Now, we need that print you lifted from the cab
and we should have been in on the handwriting.
I apologize. Things have been moving fast.
Who should I talk to in Napa so we can coordinate?
Talk to Ken Narlow.
We really should have been in on the handwriting.
I apologize. Things have been moving fast.
Listen, we're gonna need your scene photos.
Can't help you.
Ken, I don't want to get into a jurisdictional thing here.
No, no, no, no, no. We didn't have a crime scene.
The ranger that found the kids literally swept everything into a picnic blanket.
All we have are the Wing Walker prints.
The what?
Boot prints to and from the crime scene
were made by size 10-and-a-half Wing Walkers,
military-style boots sold only at military PXs
designed to walk on the wings of planes.
And you can't buy at a PX without a military ID,
so our suspect could be military.
Did you guys narrow your list off of this?
- Yeah. - Did Vallejo?
I don't know. I don't work in Vallejo. I work here.
Great. I'm gonna need photos of those boot prints.
Sure, if you send me the handwriting.
I thought Questioned Documents already did.
Nope. Vallejo's got them, not us.
All right. I'll have Questioned Documents...
Forget it. I'll telefax it to you.
We don't have telefax yet.
- Okay, I'll put it in the mail. - We'll mail ours, too.
And call Mulanax in Vallejo.
- Maybe he can get you a mimeo. - Right.
Why don't you just get a photo off the original plaster cast?
We'd have to wait, because they don't have a fax.
We don't have a fax, either.
Look, I'm just trying to get us coordinated.
Have you called Solano Sheriff's Office?
Why would I call Solano?
Because the two kids that got killed last Christmas were Solano's.
I thought they were Vallejo.
No, they were over the county line
so you're gonna need to coordinate with them, too.
Okay.
Bill.
Can I have a word with you?
Where did you see this guy?
We got the call to circle the scene and look for a Negro male adult.
Where was he?
On Jackson. Heading east. About the middle of the block.
And this is three minutes after the shooting?
Give or take. Yeah.
- And you were heading east or west? - We were going west.
All right, so you're on Jackson going west.
So the cab was one block catty-corner southwest?
- Correct. - Did you slow down?
- Of course we slowed down. - All right.
Listen, Dispatch said it was a Negro male.
That was corrected.
No, but at the time they hadn't changed it.
This guy was white.
Right, not in a hurry. Kind of lumbering along like...
Lumbering? What do you mean, "lumbering"?
- Shuffling. - Stocky? Had a crew cut?
Yeah, that's all correct.
Listen, it was dark.
The guy was wearing a dark jacket. There's no way...
He would have been covered in blood.
Did you stop him?
Did you talk to him?
- Yes? No? - No.
You need to get with a sketch artist.
We have to put out a new composite right away.
Five persons have been murdered in the San Francisco area,
and in each case the killer...
"I shall wipe out a school bus some morning..."
San Francisco police...
... to see the Stones in concert this Sunday.
The new letters from the Zodiac Killer were sent to
the City room of the San Francisco Chronicle.
One of the letters was...
Looming. No looming.
- Have you considered the water theory? - What?
Geographically, every attack takes place near a body of water
- or a water-based name. - This is your water theory?
Lake Berryessa. Blue Rock Springs.
- Lake Herman. - Wash-ington and Cherry?
You think?
No.
I'm reading this book,
Homicide Investigation by Lemoyne Snyder...
- "Leymone." ...and he says you look for patterns,
- so I'm looking for patterns. - No.
You can't think of this case in normal police terms.
- Why not? - You got four crime scenes.
Solano, Vallejo, Berryessa, and here.
Not a single usable print at the first three or in any of the letters?
How does our master criminal come to the city and leave a bloody latent?
I mean, assuming the gloves are his,
he shoots the cabbie and then takes them off?
So it's not his print?
Maybe, maybe not. You're missing the point.
- The point is the first attack... - David Faraday and Betty Jensen.
They both die.
From there on out, he only manages to kill the girls.
- Not for lack of trying. - Not for lack of trying.
Mageau lives, Ferrin dies. Hartnell lives, Shepard dies.
He gets so caught up with the women he forgets to finish off the men.
Plus, they're all couples and all on lover's lanes.
- Paul Stine is not. - Exactly.
Single, male cab driver on Washington and Cherry doesn't fit.
Doesn't fit.
So, why does Zodiac kill him?
He's breaking the pattern.
Yeah?
Someone claiming to be Zodiac called Oakland PD a half-hour ago.
He says he's gonna call in on Jim Dunbar's morning show in three hours.
On television?
He wants Melvin Belli on to counsel him.
All right. All right. Let's go wake up Melvin.
Animal crackers?
Glove box.
Are these windows bulletproof?
Yes, Melvin. You don't have to lie down back there.
This man is a marksman,
could snuff me out at a moment's notice.
Are you sure you're up for this?
Don't you worry about me, Inspector. I'll be fine when the lights are on.
This man has asked for my help.
The man you're worrying about snuffing you out?
What are these, cookies?
Dear Lord, do you ever clean this car?
- Shit. - KGO must have tipped other stations.
Get him talking. Convince him to meet you somewhere.
If you see an opportunity,
we want you to suggest Old St. Mary's Church in Chinatown.
You'll be tracing the call?
Pacific Telephone says you need to keep him on the line for 15 minutes.
We can do that, can't we, Jim?
Fifteen seconds. Clear the set.
Here you go, you drunken reprobate.
We interrupt our regular program to bring you this news bulletin.
Welcome to this special edition of our show
in which we are joined by attorney Melvin Belli
who the Zodiac Killer personally requested to appear.
Finish up, buddy, and put it in the sink.
- Good morning, Melvin. - Good morning, Jim.
So, the phone lines are open. Mr. Belli is here.
Here to help, Jim.
Yes. Here to help.
And we ask the public not to call in, so that the Zodiac himself can reach us.
I saw your Star Trek, by the way. It was excellent.
A shame about the show.
Good people.
You know, I've often thought of becoming an actor full-time.
What was your character's name?
- Gorgon. - Gorgon. That's right.
Roll the tape. Get the tape.
Jim, we have a call. We're going live.
Hello?
Hello? This is Melvin Belli.
Who am I speaking with?
This is the Zodiac speaking.
Is there something I can call you that's a little less ominous?
Sam.
Is there somewhere we can meet, Sam, and talk about this?
Meet me on top of the Fairmont Hotel.
Without anyone else or I'll jump...
Have a unit go to the Fairmont Hotel.
- Sam. - Yes?
Do you think you need medical care?
Medical, not mental.
Do you have health problems?
I'm sick. I have headaches.
Headaches?
I have headaches, too,
but a chiropractor stopped them a week ago.
I think I can help you, Sam.
Sam?
He knows they're tracing his calls.
Sam, we'd like you to know that we are not tracing these calls.
It's a long, difficult process and ineffective with these short calls.
Sam?
We're not tracing these calls. You have my word.
Okay.
Sam, you need to tell me what your problem is.
I don't want to go to the gas chamber.
I have headaches. I kill, I don't get them.
That is fucked up!
You want to live, don't you? Well, this is your passport.
How long have you been having these headaches?
Since I killed a kid.
- Do you have blackouts? - Yes.
- Do you have fits? - No. I just have headaches.
Did you attempt to call one other time
when F. Lee Bailey was with us two or three weeks ago?
Yes.
And why did you want to talk to Mr. Bailey?
Why do you wanna talk to me, Sam?
- I don't want to be hurt. - Why is he calling?
- Hey, just a second, buddy. - I don't wanna go to the gas chamber.
You won't get hurt if you talk to me.
And you're not going to the gas chamber.
I wouldn't think they would ask for capital punishment.
We should ask the District Attorney.
Do you want me to do that, Sam?
Do you want me to talk to the District Attorney?
What was that, Sam?
I did not say anything.
We heard a scream.
That was my headache.
You sound like you're in a great deal of pain.
My head aches. I'm so sick.
I'm gonna kill them.
- Oh, okay. - I'm gonna kill those kids!
Fantastic.
Sam?
- Let's meet and talk. Just us. - Okay.
How about Old St. Mary's Church in Chinatown?
No.
In front of the Daly City St. Vincent de Paul at 10:30.
I'll see you there.
Take care of yourself, Sam.
My, my, my.
You fellows certainly know how to put on a secret meeting.
You know, the problem is,
I don't want to go to the gas chamber. I have headaches.
I kill, I don't get them.
No, it's not him.
It's the voice. The voice is too high. It's too young.
All right. Thanks for coming down, Bryan.
Do you have blackouts?
That's okay. I got it.
They pulled off the trace.
Our Daly City no-show called from a mental institution.
Oakland PD's operator is sure
the man she talked to had a deeper voice.
Calmer.
Might have actually been him.
"So I shall change my way of collecting slaves.
"I shall no longer announce to anyone when I commit my murders.
"They shall look like routine robberies, killings of anger
"and a few fake accidents, et cetera.
"The police shall never catch me
"because I have been too clever for them.
"I look like the description passed out only when I do my thing.
"The rest of the time I look entirely different.
"I shall not tell you what my disguise consists of when I kill.
"As of yet I have left no fingerprints behind me,
"contrary to what the police say.
"I wear transparent fingertips.
"All it is is two coats of airplane cement coated on my fingertips.
"I enjoy needling the blue pigs. Hey, blue pig, I was in the park.
"You were using fire trucks to mask the sound of your cruising prowl cars.
"Hey, pig, doesn't it rile you up
"to have your nose rubbed in your booboos?
"If you cops think I am going to take on a bus the way I stated I was,
"you deserve to have holes in your heads."
And you need to look at this.
"Take one bag of ammonium nitrate fertilizer,
"one gallon of stove oil,
"and dump a few bags of gravel on top..."
- Okay. - It's a bomb.
Okay. We gotta call the Army and see if this
science experiment could actually work.
Another cipher.
- When did these arrive? - They arrived this morning.
Are you planning to publish?
Robert.
We should have a drink.
Thank you.
So, tell me about yourself.
- You married? - Divorced. Two kids.
What do you do for fun?
I love to read.
- I enjoy books. - Those are the same things.
Why you been going through my trash?
I'll come back to that.
How did you know he was gonna send another code?
I just guessed.
- Just guessed. - The first one seemed too easy.
All right, this can no longer be ignored.
- What is that you're drinking? - It's an Aqua Velva.
You wouldn't make fun of it if you tried it.
But who actually cracked the code?
A married couple who like puzzles.
So what's that tell us about the Zodiac?
- He's no expert. - Right.
It's just a simple substitution code
like the one that we used to do as boy scouts.
"A" is one, "B" is two.
We weren't all boy scouts, Robert.
Well, it's not that hard. You just got to know where to start.
In the first cipher...
You actually carry that around with you?
- Why? - No reason.
What's the most common double consonant in the English language?
Consonant?
- The double "L." - Double "L."
And what's the one word that we know that he'll use in here, at least once?
- "Kill." - Right, "kill."
So the Hardens start looking for double symbols,
which they find here, here, and here.
Each with the same two symbols preceding them.
So now they've got a repeating four-letter word
ending with two symbols that they assume stand for "L."
And since they think the whole word is "kill" then...
Then you got your "K," you got your "I," and you're on your way.
But how do you go from "A" is one and "B" is two
to figuring out this whole code?
Well, same way I did. You go to the library.
In this book,
the author presents a very simple substitution code in the preface.
Eight of the 26 symbols that he suggests are found in this cipher.
Yeah, but there are non-letter symbols
because there's all these medieval ones.
I thought they looked medieval, too.
But then I found a code written in the Middle Ages.
Guess what it's called?
The Zodiac Alphabet.
Jesus.
What do you want out of this?
- What? - What's your angle?
This is good business for everyone but you.
How do you mean "business"?
Hey. Come to bed.
I'll be up in a minute. I need to make a phone call.
- Hello? - Bill?
There's not many basements in California.
"Basement for future use."
That's right.
I'll have Vallejo and Napa check with their city planners.
- Get some sleep. - Yeah, sure.
"Dear Melvin, this is the Zodiac speaking.
"I wish you a happy Christmas.
"The one thing I ask of you is this. Please help me.
"I cannot reach out for help because this thing in me won't let me."
Thank you.
"I am finding it extremely difficult to hold it in check
"and I am afraid I will lose control again
"and take my ninth and possibly tenth victim."
Melvin, he's reaching out to you.
Absolutely.
Inspectors, he sent this letter directly to my residence.
It is a cry for help, intended as a private communiqué.
Which is why you contacted the Chronicle.
The people have a right to know. Toddy?
- When did the letter arrive? - In the middle of last week.
I was away on safari.
What did you gentlemen do for Christmas?
- You're looking at it. - You must see Africa.
Cradle of civilization. Fascinating people. Beautiful. Savage.
- Back to the killer who wrote to you. - Yes. Of course.
It is my belief that he only penned this letter
because he couldn't get through to me on the Dunbar show or here.
- He tried to contact you here? - Several times.
I was out, but he spoke with my housekeeper.
Didn't leave a number.
He's kind of crafty like that. Do you mind if I speak to her?
Not at all. But the real story is the letter.
- I'll be back. - Yeah.
She's right this way.
Inspector Toschi, it is my belief this is a window into this man's soul.
Killing is his compulsion.
Even though he tries to ignore it, it drives him.
It's in his blood.
Could be. Or maybe he just likes the attention.
I didn't mean to scare you, but your right rear wheel is loose.
Really?
If you like, I could tighten the lugs up for you.
If you don't mind.
Well, you can't be too careful.
- All done. - Thank you.
No problem. Have a good night.
It's okay.
Are you okay?
Yeah. Yeah, we're fine.
Must have been worse than I thought.
I can give you a lift to a service station.
Okay.
It's okay. Come on.
I didn't know you had a baby.
Oh, is that okay?
The more the merrier.
You shouldn't smoke. It's a bad habit.
- I think we just passed a filling station. - It was closed.
Do you always go around helping people in the night?
When I'm done with them, they don't need much help.
It's okay.
Before I kill you,
I'm gonna throw your baby out the window.
No! Help! Please! No!
She was on the side of the road. She flagged me down.
- What happened to her? - She said she jumped from a car.
I found her like this.
- What is it? - Please, he said...
- It'll be okay. - Tried to kill me.
My baby!
- Where's her baby? - She didn't have one when I stopped.
Where's your baby?
Jesus.
- You hid it? - In case he came back.
"This is the Zodiac speaking.
"By the way, have you cracked the last cipher I sent you?
"I'm mildly curious as to how much money you have on my head now.
"I hope you do not think I was the one who wiped out that blue meanie
"with a bomb at the cop station,
"even though I talked about killing children with one."
"This is the Zodiac speaking.
"I'd like to see some nice Zodiac buttons wandering around town.
"Everyone else has these buttons
"like peace, black power, and Melvin eats blubber, et cetera.
"It would cheer me up considerably
"if I saw a lot of people wearing my button.
- "Please no nasty ones." - "This is the Zodiac speaking.
"I shot a man sitting in a parked car with a.38.
"Zodiac 12, SFPD zero."
"The map coupled with this code will tell you where the bomb is set.
"You have until next fall to dig it up."
"This is the Zodiac speaking.
"I'm rather unhappy because you people
"will not wear some nice Zodiac buttons.
"So, I now have a little list, starting with the woman and her baby
"that I gave a rather interesting ride
"for a couple of hours one evening, a few months back,
"that ended in my burning her car where I found them."
We're really not gonna run any more of his letters?
The new policy. Our brothers in blue want us to hold back
and see how he reacts.
Four letters in three months,
and this is the first mention of Kathleen Johns. That's very weird.
That's because he's full of shit.
What do you mean?
You don't know?
Welcome. Please put your stuff down. You're going down five rows and left.
Looking for the Modesto Bee from March.
I'm going to stand here and attempt not to vomit.
- Left. - Left.
- What am I looking for? - Kathleen Johns.
Also probably you wanna pull the Chron from...
You know, never mind. I'll see to that.
Okay, look at this letter again. The part about Kathleen Johns.
Tell me what facts he gives.
- A woman and her baby abducted. - Fact.
- The car on fire. - Okay, now,
look at the article from the Bee.
Seen it yet?
Everything in the letter already appeared in the article.
And he's done it before.
Officer Richard Radetich, shot sitting in his car.
Zodiac claimed that he shot someone in their car.
Couple days after this article came out.
The police already had somebody in custody.
Zodiac didn't do it, but took credit for it anyway
because he's in it for the press.
He even stole his symbol.
- What? - Yeah. Shit.
If I show you something, you promise not to tell anyone?
- Who would I tell? - Okay. Totally solid point. Okay.
That's the only place that word and that symbol
ever appeared together before the letters.
The guy stole his logo off a watch.
How can somebody who's killed 13 people do...
He claims he's killed 13 people,
but which ones can we actually confirm?
There's three in Vallejo, one in Berryessa, the cabbie. That's it.
Bobby, you almost look disappointed.
Chief's pulling everybody off buses.
Business as usual.
Something'll shake loose.
Not a peep in four months.
First he won't shut up and now...
Maybe we drove him underground.
Maybe he's gone.
311 at 582 Haight, cross at Biltmore. There's a male...
- Happy birthday, Bill. - Thanks.
Does it ever bother you that people call you Shorty?
Does it bother you that people call you a retard?
- Nobody calls me that. - Right.
As governor, I pledge to use all my influence
to make sure that Darlene Ferrin's killer is brought to justice.
I believe some clues were overlooked in the murder of Darlene Ferrin.
- I believe her murder was premeditated. - Who is that?
Florence Douglas, mayor of Vallejo. She's running for governor.
I believe that the police department either did not have the money, the time
or, yes, the inclination...
Sayonara, police endorsement. Good work, Flo.
Does anyone ever call me names, or...
You mean like retard?
Yeah.
No.
Shit. Fuck. Oh, my God. Jesus.
Tell me that's not a piece of bloody shirt!
Fuck! Holy fucking crap!
"I feel it in my bones, you ache to know my name
"and so I'll clue you in.
"But then, why spoil the game? Happy Halloween."
Paul, you did call him a latent homosexual
in at least one of your articles.
Dave. I want a gun.
A gun?
You're in Herb Caen.
"Paul Avery's investigation has won him the accolade
"of a message from the Zodiac warning, 'You are doomed.'
"As a result, several crime newsmen are wearing lapel buttons reading,
"'I am not Paul Avery."'
You should sell these. You could do well.
It's been a windfall, since they published the threat on my life.
I got the leads coming out of the woodwork.
There's one guy down in Riverside.
I'm gonna drive down and see him tonight.
- You wanna tag along? - No, I have a date.
- Really? - Who is this guy?
He wishes to remain anonymous. I wish to remain infamous.
So we're going to get along great.
Hi. Good evening. Hi. I'm looking for a Melanie.
Yes. It's the young lady sitting by herself.
Thank you.
You must be Melanie.
- Which would make you Robert. - It would.
Glynnis told me lots about you.
- And you have wine, great. - I do.
Great. How late am I?
Just a few minutes, really. I just got here myself.
Traffic's bumper to bumper. I was at the gun range.
- Glynnis said you were a cartoonist. - Oh, yeah.
Well, what're you doing at a gun range?
Reading.
Get some more... You need some more napkins.
So, you work with Glynnis.
- For her, actually. - For her?
Oh, well...
My children are terrified of Glynnis.
Me, too.
So, the gun range?
We're... I'm working on... Do you know the Zodiac?
- Yeah. - I'm working with...
- Do you know who Paul Avery is? - Sounds kind of familiar.
He's the writer that the Zodiac threatened.
Oh, yeah, I saw that on TV.
Well, I work near him and he's going down tonight
to track an anonymous tipster down in Riverside.
Where is Riverside?
It's near L.A.
Oh, wow. I don't think Paul knows that it's that far away.
Sounds kind of dangerous.
Yeah. How do you mean?
Well, you said it was an anonymous tip, right?
Yeah.
So it could be an ambush. I mean, it could be the Zodiac.
Don't you think it's kind of stupid?
Yeah, yeah. Well, Paul has a gun.
So, do you know what's good here?
I've never been here before.
The pasta, spaghetti?
Are you ready to order yet?
Yeah, I'll have the penne vodka. But could you do it in a cream sauce?
Of course.
Maybe give us another minute?
Do you have any change?
Oh, wait, no wait, hold on.
Nope. That's a penny.
Do you have to make a phone call?
Yeah, you know, when you were saying that the Zodiac...
You know, when you said it was dangerous, I just thought
- that it is dangerous, and it's... - Stupid?
Stupid. And I just thought that
I should call his wife and just see if she's heard from him.
I have some change.
Okay. Well, she said she'd call when she heard from him.
- Good. - Yeah.
Melanie, I should really go home and wait for the call.
Is this some sleazy plan to get me to go home with you?
What? No.
I'll get the food to go.
Hello!
Hi! I'm supposed to meet somebody here.
Anything?
You don't have to stay.
Are you kidding?
This is the most interesting date I've ever had.
- Paul? - Robert?
- Yes. - You sitting down?
Yes.
You're not gonna believe this.
Dave!
In a bizarre twist, the hunted has become hunter.
San Francisco Chronicle reporter and Zodiac target Paul Avery
claims to have uncovered new information
regarding the only unsolved homicide in Riverside County's history,
a 1966 Southern California murder,
that Avery now believes was the Zodiac's first victim.
What?
- He didn't call you about this? - Hang on!
The Riverside killer wrote to the press letters
that I then took personally to the Office of Questioned Documents.
And what did this expert tell you?
What I knew in my gut, Ron.
The handwriting matches Zodiac's.
How'd he get the evidence out of Riverside?
He took it to Sherwood without telling us, the son of a bitch.
You know how bad this looks?
Hey, how do we know that this lead is real?
It's very real. You know how I know?
Because I saw it on TV.
Excuse me.
Dave.
Hi.
Dave, you know Mel Nicolai. He's working the case for Justice.
Good to see you, Mel.
All due respect, can someone explain to me
why I'm reading about breaks in this case
in the Chronicle instead of getting calls from you?
We got screwed.
Dave, come on.
You do get your name in the paper a lot. People talk.
I don't ever talk about an open investigation, period. Okay, Ken?
Dave? Hey. Hi.
Paul Avery. Can I catch a ride with you gents when we get there?
Not a good idea, Paul.
He's gonna make me take a cab when we're going to the same place.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for choosing PSA.
- Fair enough. Fair enough. - Please take your seats at this time.
Remember, smoking is in the last six aisles only.
Enjoy your flight.
- Cross? Hi. - Yeah.
- Detective David Toschi, SFPD. - How are you doing?
Great. Thanks for having us down today.
Not at all. I hear you have some files for us.
I'll show you mine. You show me yours.
- Frisco huh? - That's right. San Francisco.
- Ken Narlow from Napa. - Ken.
- Mel Nicolai, Justice. - Mel.
Here's what we know.
Cheri Jo Bates attended Riverside Community College.
She studies in the library the night of October 30th, 1966.
She leaves with an unidentified male at closing, 9:00 p.m.
Her body's found the next morning in a parking lot, stabbed to death.
Her car is disabled.
Someone cut the coil in the distributor, the battery died.
The someone comes back, offers to help.
- Like Kathleen Johns. - Who?
A woman outside of Modesto, might be a Zodiac victim.
Might. Might be. I have her comp right here in this file.
Okay.
A typewritten confession was sent to the Riverside Press Enterprise
on November 29th, a month after Bates's murder.
They ran it.
"I'm not sick. I am insane. But that will not stop the game.
"This letter should be published for all to read."
He wants to be published. He calls it a game.
I mean, this could be our boy.
Six months later, the police, the girl's father, and the paper,
they all received these.
Double postage, just like Zodiac.
These are what Sherwood Morrill matched to the Zodiac letters?
These and the desktop. Don.
This was found a couple of months later by a janitor in RCC storage.
Sherwood got a handwriting match off wood?
Who etches in their own handwriting?
To be honest with you,
our letters and your letters, I don't see it.
How did Paul Avery get his hands on the exemplars?
I gave them to him.
We talked on the phone the other day for about an hour.
And I told him you were gonna be here.
- You told him we were meeting? - Yeah.
I also told him we don't think this is Zodiac.
Okay, wait a minute.
- You don't think this is Zodiac? - We got a guy we like for it.
We don't have enough to pin it on him yet,
but we're pretty sure it's him.
If you don't think this is Zodiac, then why give anything to Avery?
I'm trying to cooperate.
Oh, that's how you cooperate? By giving information to reporters?