Sandy thanks and I couldn’t agree more and would love to meet you. I was last in the area last Sept. but it was labor day weekend and my only purpose in going there was to visit my friend so you can just imagine the feelings about this and then the time constraints.

It is so interesting to see the connections here as you say. He loves places on the water with views and a table by the window. Once when I’d gone to SF with a girlfriend for the weekend after we’d been dating for a year or so and had just gotten settled in our hotel room, the phone suddenly rang, scaring us both thinking there was some sort of emergency at home as our families knew we were going there and had no reason to be calling other than for a dire emergency. Here it was him, calling me to tell me about the Shadows restaurant and how good it was and to be sure to go there (if you know this place and if not, Google it as I’m sure you’d find it interesting). I really was somewhat annoyed by this call as was my girlfriend as it seemed more like he didn’t like it when he found out I’d gone there without consulting him first and he wanted to check up on me. As I remember, he called me at home on a Fri. evening and my sister informed him I was on my way to SF for the weekend and he paged me at LAX while waiting for the flight there and was annoyed I hadn’t told him I was going there. I remember he had to work that weekend so told him I just decided to accompany my friend to SF to go sightseeing and shopping. We did go to the Shadows then and then some time after that is when I think he and I flew together to SF for a long weekend for the first time and we went to the Shadows together and really enjoyed it but again there was just something that struck me as a little off about this whole thing. Maybe it wasn’t the kind of place I knew him to like since there were many cats around the entrance and he does not like cats. He had not ever mentioned this very unique place before then even though he spoke of so many others and had heard all about my travels through Europe for three months after finishing college and before I met him. He’s never been to Europe but has been to Mexico. I was just very surprised to think he knew this place but had never mentioned it before during one of our conversations where it would have been very natural to do so.

Another thing he really likes is shrimp and prawns and will go on and on about them, the size, the flavor, etc. He actually knows a lot about food as his mother was a very good cook as were many women in that day, particularly in the mid-west. He is a good cook himself and would really try to impress me with it when he would come visit me in between his rehab stays and before age and health issues set in.

Another habit he had that now comes to mind, at least when we were together and at the bars was jotting notes and drawing diagrams on the cocktail napkins if he was telling me something pertaining to work or trying to illustrate a point about something or another. He did have the habit of jotting notes on pieces of paper and folding them and then putting them in his shirt pocket. I could tell you the names of some of the other restaurants he took me to if we ever should meet or I could pm them to you I guess even though it doesn’t prove anything at all unless of course it happened to be one of the places you worked. I don’t want to do it here since there are just too many people who could be reading this from the small towns in the bay area who could have known him from these places if they put two and two together. Of course I don’t know how he acted when he was alone at these places or with other people so these habits may be something that he just did when he was with me.

I will add that most of the time I spent with him was alone. We did go out a lot to eat but usually just the two of us and occasionally with the friend who lived above him at the beach and his wife and then girlfriends after they divorced. We would visit another couple and their children usually in the evenings after dinner and I remember him taking me to a couple’s home in the south bay area of southern CA to see their new baby who was in a crib. I just remember these people from the one occasion and then there were professional things he took me to such as dinner dances sponsered by the firm where he worked and a Christmas open house at one of the partner’s homes but those were entirely different situations than the times we spent just by ourselves. He knew my family of course and spent lots of time at my home and some of my relatives became suspicious of him but much more so than they let me know I now think after looking back on all this. I never told anyone about that costume or the other strange things or the dui’s of course at that time. I really just can’t believe he could really be the Zodiac knowing where he’s worked and lived and with all the very sharp people and bars he’s frequented would think someone would have had some concrete evidence or known something long ago or reported him. After reading all this I think maybe they well could have and he was cleared and of course would never have wanted anyone to know that which I can totally understand.

He never owned a Mercury Comet to my knowledge. When we met, he owned a 1967 turquoise Mustang with a black vinyl top. His mother had a brown one and it may have been a year or so newer or older. We borrowed it to drive from his home to see my mother’s birthplace which was in the same state and about one hundred miles plus from his when he took me back to see his home the first time. I’d met his parents the first year we met as they were snowbirds and came to CA in Nov. IIRC when the weather turned and spent the winters away from their home either in CA with my boyfriend part of the time and then to Hawaii or Florida. He would have had access to their car as they drove to CA sometimes however I don’t think they had anything other than his mom’s Mustang and his dad drove a Ford Pinto as I remember that may have been brown.

When he eventually moved back to northern CA and bought a townhouse in the late 1970’s he invited me to come see it and picked me up at the Oakland airport in his almost new Datsun 380 ZX which was just about a year or so old by then but seemed brand new to me. IIRC, it was a very pale tan or champagne color.

Yes I have many samples of his handwriting as I’ve saved most of the cards and letters he’s sent me over the years. I want to go through them as I think he may have even sent me one like the "dripping pen" and gave the anniversary card pictured somewhere to my aunt and uncle when they celebrated a big wedding anniversary and they had a big party at their home that he attended. No gifts were requested but people gave cards and my mother was annoyed with him as she felt he made a big to-do over the card he gave them at this party. There were a couple of other cards that looked so familiar to me when I started reading about the case at these sites and saw the letters and cards. It will not prove a thing however even if I found he did send me identical cards to some the Zodiac sent as these cards were probably sold all over and this could be just one huge series of coincidences but then I wonder about the saying about too many coincidents and nothing being accidental and everything happens for a reason.

Fwiw, we never that I can recall ever ordered dessert anywhere and would have perhaps only if it was included in the meal or if we were at a special function or party or at home. He is very fond of ice cream and emphasizes the "cream" and also loves root beer. He’d often stop for ice cream cones at places like Foster Freeze or the Dairy Queen in the midwest and he introduced me to Whitecastle Hamburgers before the were sold in markets here.

If you do have any cards that are just like the ones Zodiac sent, those would be very important, even though they could be bought in many places!
His printing would be very telling and his DNA would be on the envelopes. I hope you kept the envelopes ? You can send me a PM if you are worried about one of his friends putting 2 and 2 together. I really don’t see how they could do that, because there are too many people who moved to all of the same places as he did.

The restaurant that you mentioned, I believe was the "Shadowbrook". ( One of my hangouts !) I don’t remember the cats being there.
All of my cats were poisoned over time , my large dog was shot in the head.
A few weeks ago, someone sent me a sample of Fiesty Feast cat food, with a picture of the White fluffy cat on the add, that cat looks just like my cat.
I never ordered that brand, so how would the company know my address and send it 10 yrs after my cat was killed ? I believe it was sent to taunt me ,by the person who poisoned my cat. Dead animals have been put in my yard, along with burnt upside down crosses.( Very satanic I think )

Anything satanic about your guy ?

Didn’t have time to read all of your posts Capricorn (I will read them, though!), and the question that comes to mind is… are you going to post some of your own handwriting since you said that you mailed some letters out that had your handwriting on them.

Didn’t have time to read all of your posts Capricorn (I will read them, though!), and the question that comes to mind is… are you going to post some of your own handwriting since you said that you mailed some letters out that had your handwriting on them.

It never dawned on me to post some of my own handwriting but guess I could. I’d thought of posting a note he sent me some years ago with his normal printing with suggestions and information about a diet drug for weight loss that he’d read about. In that or another one I have he uses "shall" or "I shall" a lot! The rhythm, spacing and punctuation is all very similar at least imo but I have no special expertise. I am not experienced at all with posting pictures especially here as I think I tried to do it when I thought about these notes and couldn’t quite understand it but will have to consider that now as I also bought a newer computer since then IIRC and it may be easier.

I did practice printing on scratch paper after I studied the things here and at the other sites! I see quite a similarity so just think if you can how horrified I am to think MY DNA could be on some of those mailings. It would be totally impossible though for any before 1970, the year we met.

Since my hackles have been raised about this case, believe me when I say my radar is set on high alert when I’ve visited my friend and spoken with him, paying very close attention to everything he says. It was chilling to hear him talk about wanting to wish someone a "Happy Christmas" last year or so and say something once about forgetting to send someone a Christmas card and that was his downfall (eg. of what imo is an odd thing to say and of how he’ll come out with things that make you wonder just what he means by them.) He uses words like "peeking" and said something once about "squirming on the piano bench" when he was telling me about something he did. He does use "shall" quite a bit and a few other words and phrases the Zodiac did but then there are probably millions of people who also do.

Sorry to be so long but I guess it might help to try to explain a bit more about the context and printing.

When we were early in our relationship and sitting on the beach talking about growing up, school days, people we knew, places we’d gone and all the other subjects, (going back and forth in time as one thing led to another) I remember telling him all about the exclusive private Catholic girls school I’d attended. He was definitely most interested in that. We got on literature, talking about books and comparing ones we’d read in school. We discussed the poet ee. cummings as one of the nuns at our school was very fond of him and what is known as chancery printing. The school had a very famous art dept. and the teachers and students would often make banners with quotations that would be up around the campus and in the classrooms.

He was very interested in this and hearing all about the various assignments we had and I remember thinking that was a little strange. He left me on the beach while he went to his apt. and came back with scratch paper and some of his blue felt tip pens so I could demonstrate this for him. I couldn’t do it very well as a special tip and pen are needed to really do the printing decently but I did the best I could with what he had and he was very excited, oohing and aahing about how he wished he could do that but there was always something about his handwriting and why he was ashamed of it. It really is not bad at all….I have seen far worse but it is very small and precise.

Now subsequent to this discussion and demonstration of handwriting and various styles of printing is when he began asking me to write things on envelopes for him occasionally. I remember once he had me print "Air Mail" on the front or back of something and he did it on the back and it looked almost the same as he copied mine or wanted me to copy his or suggested to me how he wanted me to do it. I just thought this was so ridiculous and silly at the time but it seemed perfectly innocent….just childish but thought he was just playing around due to the circumstances at that time. We were just leisurely enjoying our time together and there were no outside family pressures or anything much other than our jobs as we were young and pretty carefree or so I thought anyway.

Also I now remember as I have before but don’t think I ever posted about another flashback. This also happened the same day at the beach or another one that was almost the same. We were talking about our past and he was telling me about his experiences "teaching" but I never quite understood much about that as he never gave me the name of any school or school district where he’d taught and it seemed all pretty vague to me. (I had several friends who were teaching by then and my mom had worked for a school district as had I as a student during school vacations while in college to earn money for my tuition).

He said he worked as a teacher’s aide while at UCB IIRC and then spoke about tutoring a young girl in math IIRC at her home. This was when he said he’d taken leave of his job in OC and was taking chemistry and pre-med at Long Beach State as by then he thought he’d like to become a doctor and was trying to go to med school. He said he applied to one (Northwestern I think) was interviewed but not accepted due to affirmative action or his age but now that I think about this, I wonder. He said the girl’s grade point increased so much under his tutelage that her parents told him his services would no longer be needed and I don’t recall him ever mentioning her name or exactly where these people lived but have the idea it must have been in the Long
Beach area or not far from there. This was all a little fuzzy in my mind at that time because I knew him well enough by then to know he was very much in the habit of telling me a person’s name, both first and last, and then repeating them often during these conversations about school, work, etc. and people he’d known. I almost felt like I knew these people by the end of the conversation btw so when he’d talk about all this tutoring or other things/people and was vague, I would kind of wonder about it I guess or made a mental note to myself that it just seemed a little unusual for him not to be more precise.

Now I’m getting chills writing about this incident at the beach talking about his teaching and methods. Also we’d probably discussed the course taken by most college students about "How to Study" "Elements of Writing" speed reading and note taking, bookstores, bluebooks we used and all the rest! I know Gregg shorthand came up as my mother was proficient at it and I still have her textbook from her technical school where she learned this. I took it my senior year in high school and seem to remember talking to him about "brief forms."

I wish I could remember if he said he’d ever taken shorthand but just can’t. I do recall he told me he was a fast reader and seem to remember talking about note taking and told him I used it a lot in my job (where I had to interview many people). When he came out with the scratch paper, I think we compared our writing and he demonstrated his note-taking ability. He’d eliminate vowels mostly IIRC.

We talked about using "flashcards" as a learning tool and he then said something like "stay here…I’ve got an idea and will be right back. He went to his apt. and came back with a hole punch and some blank postcards and then asked me to punch holes in the cards for him and I think it was thirteen holes he wanted!

Now I was certainly no expert with men since I’d gone to this Catholic girls high school and women’s college but let me tell you I thought this was absolutely bizarre at the time and could not believe this was happening it was just so odd. It was almost surreal and I probably started giggling or laughing and ended up asking him what this was all about. He told me (best I can remember) that he had some project going on at work and was going to use this or was thinking about using this card with the holes in connection with it. I know I then asked him why he couldn’t punch these holes himself and he said there was something wrong with his right hand or thumb and he didn’t have the strength or it hurt or some such thing. His hand seemed perfectly okay to me though so I really don’t know…could have been arthritis I guess because I probably didn’t realize even young people could get it back in those days.

As an aside, I was blonde at the time, have blue eyes and fair skin and very prone to sunburns so he was always very solicitous about this and not wanting me to get burned. He would watch the sun and check his watch every fifteen minutes or so and we’d have to up and move to a different spot on the beach according to where the sun was and then when the tide was coming up as the afternoon got later. We’d often stay out there to watch the beautiful sunsets and then go in and get ready to go out to dinner at one of the many nice restaurants in the area.

As I remember this incident, it was towards the late afternoon and we’d been out for a few hours so there wasn’t a lot of time and he was kind of rushing me to just go ahead and do this for him, telling me how much he appreciated my help, how he’d never met anyone like me before who was so thoughtful and considerate of him and willing to spend time listening to him and his stories and how communication was one of the most important things in a relationship in his opinion, how he was afraid I’d had too much sun as he could tell I’d gotten sunburned, bla, bla, bla. I agreed to punch these holes, asking him where and how he wanted them. He said he didn’t care, just put them or arrange them however I thought they’d look good and he’d figure out the rest or work his project around it later on after he thought about it.

I seem to remember knowing he liked symmetry as we’d discussed art and decorating and the use of "three" in arranging flowers or decorative objects as well as the other odd numbers such as five. So I am almost positive I punched the holes along both sides of this blank postcard that he’d purchased at the post office I guess or gotten from his office and then I seem to remember talking with him about it not being exactly the same since he wanted thirteen and told him it would have been easier to balance if he wanted twelve. That sparked a conversation about dinner and where we were going and then cooking, baking and a baker’s dozen which is thirteen.

He was also very fond of asking for recipes if he liked something and think I may have asked him if he was planning to send someone one of his mother’s recipes as she was always giving him easy ones that he could prepare for himself. I think we’d also talked about a holiday such as Thanksgiving and the things our mothers would serve such as the dinner rolls. Pillsbury would publish lots of recipes using their frozen biscuits that could be used in various things and his mom used them a lot. Even though he kept talking about this card being needed for something he was working on at work, I think I probably felt he was planning to send an old girlfriend one of his mom’s recipes or something and just didn’t want me to know.

Capricorn- is this how you remember it and is either the front or back "AIR MAIL" your writing?

If you do have any cards that are just like the ones Zodiac sent, those would be very important, even though they could be bought in many places!
His printing would be very telling and his DNA would be on the envelopes. I hope you kept the envelopes ? You can send me a PM if you are worried about one of his friends putting 2 and 2 together. I really don’t see how they could do that, because there are too many people who moved to all of the same places as he did.

The restaurant that you mentioned, I believe was the "Shadowbrook". ( One of my hangouts !) I don’t remember the cats being there.
All of my cats were poisoned over time , my large dog was shot in the head.
A few weeks ago, someone sent me a sample of Fiesty Feast cat food, with a picture of the White fluffy cat on the add, that cat looks just like my cat.
I never ordered that brand, so how would the company know my address and send it 10 yrs after my cat was killed ? I believe it was sent to taunt me ,by the person who poisoned my cat. Dead animals have been put in my yard, along with burnt upside down crosses.( Very satanic I think )

Anything satanic about your guy ?

Sandy, I am so sorry to hear about your cat and your dog!

If it is any comfort to you, I am pretty sure I’ve received samples of cat food or dog food. We often get samples here but there are usually cosmetics or toothpaste. I just thought I’m probably on a mailing list somewhere.

There is nothing satanic about my guy THAT I KNOW OF but have had some bizarre things happen here that I may have already posted about and he did some odd things when he’d come visiting. Shortly after one of his visits, I went out in my back yard to clean up after my dogs and found a large pyramid made from all the rocks that were in the soil where he’d dug preparing it for planting tomatoes. The details around this are just way too long to go into but I’ll never forget them and think I’ve touched on it some time ago somewhere. There was also a can of lighter fluid and some charcoal briquets arranged strangely on the ground with an arrangement of rocks that was very creepy looking. I used to occasionally find odd things out in the back such as a toy or doll but thought kids living behind me tossed them over the block wall and I probably tossed them back or left them sitting on top of it so they’d see whatever and could take it if it was theirs. The item would be gone but then we have squirrels and birds and there are also possums and lots of rats around so guess an animal could have taken it.

FWIW, I have also received odd mail rarely. Greeting cards from Surprise, Arizona addressed to some person unknown to me and not in the phone book but at my home address. Once I got some men’s magazines that I’d never subscribed to. I called the number associated with it and concluded it was a sample and somehow their mailing list was screwed up.

Once I found a dead racoon in my back yard. Animal control told me they felt it had been kept as a pet when they came to remove it but that is very illegal here so I really don’t know. It had been rainy and windy and we have exposed power lines so I thought the poor thing probably had gotten loose and scared with the weather and then gotten electrocuted or just died of old age. The man who came to remove him was so nice and older and well-experienced and said he thought the raccoon was old but it makes me uneasy when I think of it in this context and after reading about your experiences. I’d actually forgotten all about it until I read your comment or someone elses somewhere and think I’ve already mentioned this on another thread.

Now the area I live is heavily populated and there are plenty of undesireables around so it is entirely possible that the things I mention, especially the rocks, could have been done by some random stranger or even the gardener I had at the time but it just seemed so strange to find it right after my friend had been here.

There were also a couple of times when I wondered if he could have given me something to knock me out as I’d had extreme insomnia for a very long time and was amazed a few times when I’d wake up in the a.m. and realize I’d been sleeping straight for at least six hours or so as this was highly unusual.

He seemed to hate leaving when it was time and I hated to see him go. Once I woke up to find he’d just left early for the airport and called later when he was back home that he wanted me to rest and didn’t want to trouble me to take him to the airport which I always did and didn’t mind doing in the least. I was amazed then that I had slept through and wondered if he’d slipped something into the ice tea he insisted on making and which was always very sweet…much more than I liked and in fact I like mine unsweetened or just with lemon but he would insist on buying the pre-sweetened kind or putting sugar in it, wanting me to try the special ice tea he went to all the trouble to make.

A few other borderline things have happened around my home too long and ot to describe here that are probably totally unconnected to him but the thought has crossed my mind and I have wondered about some of his friends and associates based on some of the things he’s said. He’s always cautioning me about locking my doors and windows and almost went overboard doing that every time he was here checking all before we’d leave to go out anywhere.

The restaurant I told you about was named the Shadows. I Googled after posting to check and saw it no longer exists. There are some pictures of this old German restaurant and the bar there with the view of the Bay Bridge (I think is the bridge) is what I think attracted him mostly to this place as I remember sitting there upstairs in the lounge when we went together and he spent a long time telling me about the various bridges, where they connect and lead to and all sorts of other details about them. It was very clear that night and the view was beautiful but this bar is the only area that has a view. I remember it was very crowded as it was a weekend and we sat at a table in the bar area for a long time and then at the table downstairs and that dinner took a long time but as mentioned, he refuses to be rushed when he doesn’t want to be. It of course is entirely opposite when he is in a hurry to go somewhere. I would often try to point out that in busy places such as this, it was really rather rude imo to linger at a table any longer that necessary as people were waiting for their tables. I am a slow eater btw and don’t like to keep anyone waiting but after I’d finished and we’d been there so long, seem to remember having to urge him to leave but it may be that he was just so comfortable by then and knowing how cold and windy it would be once we left, he wanted to stay as long as he could and I think the waiter may have even very nicely let him know they needed the table.

Now after typing that I am reminded of another of his proclivities re. restaurants. It seemed that often we’d be doing something and he was always in charge of the plans but it would be that we’d end up going to some rather nice restaurant very late, just before closing sometimes and this was after having been somewhere else earlier in the evening where he’d wanted to take me to meet the bartender or see the place or hear the music or some such thing.

Even though it was late and there were plenty of open tables with views or by the water or wherever, he’d insist on first sitting at the bar and there was more than one time when the bartender made it very clear that if he wanted to be served dinner, the table was ready then and we must be seated or they would be closing. It was just very embarrassing to say the least and if he’d done this early on after I met him, I really don’t think I’d have continued to see him.

Capricorn- is this how you remember it and is either the front or back "AIR MAIL" your writing?

Yes, Susie I am afraid to say it pretty much is and also that time frame would fit but I can’t be one hundred percent sure. I think mine would be the one on the back if it is mine. This though is not what I described re. the late newspaper bill as that definitely was in an envelope and he’d placed a logo where the return address normally would go.

I have studied this card for a long time after I first saw it and my heart was pounding as I thought back on all this stuff, let me tell you. I got out my magnifying glass and some of his letters to me and tried comparing them but just can’t say betting my life that it is but almost can. I tend to save things so even went through some old boxes of receipts trying to see if I could pinpoint the time I first went to SF with him. I couldn’t find my old calendars and guess I did throw those out long ago. I did throw most if not all of his cards and letters to me out when I started dating someone else after he took the job in Chicago thinking I should make a clean break of it and would never see him again. This after hours talking about our relationship with my girlfriends (but never any of the things here just basically his seeming committment issues) and reading some of the advice books of the day. I am sorry now because there were some good ones and I do remember them and think that one about washing the pen was one as I seem to remember thinking it was so stupid and I was still living at home at the time, but again I could be mistaken.

I did start saving everything after we got back together so I have about two boxes full at this time. I did start reading these and then had to stop as it is too upsetting and then I’d be interrupted or not have the time and would intend to get back to it and then get sidetracked with something more important. Let me tell you, reading all this trying to eliminate him from any involvement in my mind has been so time consuming I have gotten very behind in my mail and I have to force myself to stop thinking about this periodically. Yesterday I did nothing else but part of that was computer related and disappearing posts.

I do want to thank everyone here though as this is really the only place I feel comfortable sharing this and it is a huge relief just expressing this here to relieve my angst about it.

Now that I’m up to speed on the case, I think LE just does not want to go to the expense of any trial if there was even enough evidence to ever charge anyone and if they have any plans to do so would have by now. It really sounds like so many mistakes were made and then all the books written and movies, etc. have really muddied the waters so to speak.

I have searched online trying my best to locate the hotel where we stayed but can’t seem to find it or anything from it in my memorabilia but that is what I hope to find when I go through everything. It was an older European style place and on the small side and I remember details about the lobby and vague ones about postcards and trying to locate a mailbox as we were leaving one morning. I think he started talking about needing to find a mailbox when we were still in the room and I was surprised at that. He then probably started talking about having to get this bill in the mail that had to be paid and I would have, I am quite sure, told him it shouldn’t be any problem as the hotel probably had one in the lobby or the desk could just put it in their outgoing mail to be picked up. He didn’t want that, saying he couldn’t trust the desk as it could get lost and he needed to make sure it got there so the best way was to find a mailbox where he could see that it would be picked up and he would know exactly when and he had it all figured out as to how long it would take. He also wanted to know that it was actually deposited in the mailbox so we asked in the lobby and ended up walking out and finding a mailbox on the street where he pulled this envelope out, handed it to me asking me to deposit it for him.

I am trying my best to try to remember where this mailbox was but am not sure as I think one that I used when I was there with my girlfriend and sent a postcard to him comes to my mind. I am positive though that the mailbox was in the city of SF and within walking distance of this hotel that may not even be there today. I remember we walked to some of the stores and mostly window shopped but did go into Williams Sonoma or some other high end cooking store. We parked the rental car in a huge parking structure that had levels and some sort of elevator they used to get the cars parked and then back to the driver. It was very unique and I seem to remember having only seen one like it years before in downtown Los Angeles and my friend and I stood across from it watching this delicate and dangerous procedure.

I looked at Google maps not long ago trying to locate the hotel and this in relation to parking structures after reading about Paul Stine. I did find one that is probably it as I found Williams and Sonoma and think it was just a block or so away. Then I seem to remember there was a hotel on the corner or something that had been discussed on one of these threads AND the Chronicle newspaper building was just across the street from this parking structure.

That seemed like a huge coincidence to me and wonder if there was a mailbox outside that building which I think there probably was and is. However, after studying the area on Google and trying to maneuver up and down the area, it really didn’t ring any bells or look familiar at all so I could be way off about this. Also, the streets have probably changed along with the stores in all this time. The actual buildings though are mostly still there as you can tell from the architecture, especially on the older ones if one really pays attention and looks.

Now when we were leaving for the airport to come home, I seem to remember that we for some reason were in some rather unusual location that seemed out of the way to go to the airport. I remember looking across water and he pointed out various things and the SF airport may have been the main one. I have searched Pleasanton thinking maybe that was where we were but just can’t tell and I can’t recall why we were there.

I’m guessing really that it may have been that we had to go there to drop off the rental car and there was a shuttle that went from there to the airport. I just know we had a rental car and don’t remember a thing about picking it up after we arrived regardless of how hard I have tried. I do seem to recall arriving in SF rather late at night and flying there from LAX so we probably left on a Fri. night after work and it would have been at least 8 p.m or so and the flight takes just about an hour. I remember the airport being very crowded but glad and excited to be with my boyfriend and going there with him as it was the first time we’d flown together and I was so impressed with the way he took charge, knew his way around the airport, got the luggage and seemed to be watching out for me that I wouldn’t get pushed or bumped or anything in the crowd. He was just the perfect gentleman. I do vaguely recall when thinking about how we got the rental car that he may have instructed me to wait with the luggage near the entrance and then he left to go pick up this car, returning with it and picked me up right outside as that would explain to me in my mind why I don’t remember going anywhere to get this car. Or the car could have been dropped off to us, I guess and we just had to return it to this area I described above. I just am not clear though and he could very well have just taken me to wherever this place was as he wanted to show me the view from there or something else. That would fit his normal personality when I was with him in these situations….just very romantic and charming and trying to show you around all the nice places he thought you would enjoy.

But the lingering doubt is there…could this have been Pleasanton and where this card was mailed? I will add too that we spoke a lot about airmail and how long mailings took as it would take longer for regular mail and there was an extra charge for airmail back then. That is why people used special air mail stickers or wrote it on the mail because they paid extra and wanted to be sure the post office sent it that way so it would arrive on time.

I don’t remember if this was the case back then but it is now that often the post office will stamp a city on something in the postmark that differs from the one where it was actually mailed. My friend would ask me sometimes after I’d sent him something why the postmark said one place when he knew I didn’t live there. Sometimes he’d send me things postmarked from Oakland and I’d ask him if he’d been there recently and he’d say oh no, the mail just goes through there.

He did tell me about a disturbing incident after his hospitalization but this was at night and he was tired and mumbling so he may have been confused but it pertained to the cops visiting him again the night before. I asked him if he got their names and think he said no but described them as being older Dick Tracy types. I asked what this was about and he said a woman had reported being followed out of the Oakland airport and had accused him but he was mumbling as I said so really have no way of knowing if this happened or was something he was watching on tv as I’ve seen something very similar to this on one of the programs like Cold Cases.

I could describe other very similar situations but it is just too much and everyone can get the picture here I am quite sure. I think I am absolutely correct when I think if there is anything at all too this, nobody could possible find out at this point as LE is not going to publicize anything or anyone they could be investigating in relation to the Zodiac or any other case.

I need to take a break from this and won’t have much time tomorrow as I have an appointment but later on today think I’ll try posting some examples of my handwriting if I can do it and will try printing Air Mail like that shown. I did this before first without looking at the card and was shocked at the closeness and then when I was looking was able to copy it almost perfectly but then I’ve seen all the examples of other similar handwriting/printing so it just gets mind boggling and way too time consuming.

I just looked at this writing before leaving my computer for awhile and realize this is a letter rather than a postcard but it is not the same one with the bill since I don’t see the logo where the return address is and never have seen that one posted anywhere that was exactly the same as I remember it. The one I saw was a circle with no cross inside the circumference but had little straight lines extending out from it. It would be just like the one usually seen (circle with cross extended out but as if the cross inside had been eliminated or erased and just the extensions of the lines remained. I don’t remember thinking there had been any erasures though so it was just the circle with the lines out and the center part left blank.

Thank you so much for sharing your story Capricorn. The hotel that you are talking about sounds like the one that I stayed at when I was in San Francisco for the anniversary of Paul Stine that Tom Voight organized. The first night I stayed near the Presidio however the second night I stayed near Union Square. I Google map the hotel and it shows that it is only .2 miles from the San Francisco Chronicle. It is also within very close proximity of where it is believed that Paul Stine picked up Z. The hotel reminds me of several that I have stayed in in Europe and is what I’m guessing you mean by European-style. The room we stayed in was very small and had two twin beds in it. The hotel name is the Powell hotel and here is a picture of the lobby I found online. The hotel is also very close to a lot of shopping although I have a feeling a lot of the stores are newer.

Thank you so much for six sharing your story Capricorn. The hotel that you are talking about sounds like the one that I stayed at when I was in San Francisco for the anniversary of Paul Stine that Tom Voight organized. The first night I stayed near the Presidio however the second night I stayed near Union Square. I Google map the hotel and it shows that it is only .2 miles from the San Francisco Chronicle. It is also within very close proximity of where it is believed that Paul Stine picked up Z. The hotel reminds me of several that I have stayed in in Europe and is what I’m guessing you mean by European-style. The room we stayed in was very small and had two twin beds in it. The hotel name is the Powell hotel and here is a picture of the lobby I found online. The hotel is also very close to a lot of shopping although I have a feeling a lot of the stores are newer.

Wow! Thanks, Susie. I do think I found this one when I was looking but just couldn’t be sure from the angles of the photos. If this wasn’t it, the one where we were had to be very close to it as the location fit like you say, close to shopping and we were able to walk with our luggage to the parking structure (he may have dropped me off with the luggage though) but I know this parking structure wasn’t more than several blocks. We were both younger of course and in good shape so it could have been a little more than that…it just wasn’t next door or right next door or very close. I do remember there was an awning outside the entrance at that time I am pretty sure.

Now the name of this hotel does not ring any bells with me which is unusual as I will recognize names like this right away with a clue if I’ve forgotten. I’m thinking over all this time, it most assuredly has been redecorated and refurbished and could well have been sold and re-opened with another name. I’m thinking it had a foreign sounding name, ie. La Whatever but could very well be wrong and just completely forgot the name and have no accurate recall here.

This is typical of old SF architecture though so there are probably others quite like it.

I remember our room was very small as well and overlooked the street and we were upstairs but don’t remember the floor. The bathroom had the typical old fixtures and small tiles IIRC and I think I probably had made the reservation or given him the name and he did it. The place had been recommended to me by a good male friend who had stayed there and who had traveled extensively in Europe and told me he knew I’d like it as it was so much like the ones in Europe. The bathroom was to the right of the bedroom in our room.

Was there a dining room? It is exciting to know you got to go there! I’d love to hear all the details of that trip and would have loved to join you but just wouldn’t dare involve myself publicly in this type of thing right now for something that would be sure to be publicized. I’ve thought I’d like to just go there soon by myself and revisit the area to perhaps jog more memories plus the fact I love SF. Now that I have a name and good lead I will check the online site and photos so I can try to tell from the various angles if I can be sure one way or the other.

I don’t think there was a dining room per se there. There may have been one off the lobby but if so it was closed when we were there. We never had lunch or dinner there and I’m not sure if they served a continental breakfast in the lobby or off the lobby. I vaguely think they did and we had croissants and juice and coffee and it was as close to the European kind as you could get. I don’t think there was a menu where you could order anything much else but again, I could be very wrong about this and we just didn’t eat there at all and bypassed any eating areas as we went out. I’m vaguely picturing some small tables for two with cloth tablecloths and a small flower in the vases on a few tables against the wall and kind of towards the outside corner off the main entrance but this is very vague.

Anyway, the place was nice and clean but old and the room was very plainly furnished as I remember but suited us just fine. My friend probably would have reserved a room at the Motel Six if I hadn’t told him about this place my friend recommended to me and I so wanted him to share my enthusiasm for Europe since he’d never been there! Their rates were also quite reasonable I am sure for the time and was another reason why we were glad to find it.

What I’m going to do shortly is go get an envelope and then just print Air Mail on the back away from the computer and then come back here and see if I can figure out how to post it or if anyone has a tip please let me know. I’m thinking it would have to be scanned and I have major problems with my printers and they might even be out of ink as I rarely use them.

Otherwise, I could try taking a photograph of it and maybe a sample of my friend’s handwriting and then trying to post it that way but I’m new to digital photography and rarely have posted pictures and have never tried taking a picture of a picture or handwriting samples.

In the meantime if you are curious about my poi’s normal appearance, look for the pic that "one who knows" posted of what turned out to be her husband she accused in her book taken at their wedding. He is wearing a white jacket and when I first saw that and didn’t know who this woman was, thought it could have been a picture of my guy as there is a very close resemblance. I’m curious if this man resembles the ones Sandy has in mind.

Another thought came to me re. Mr. Tarbox. If he saw any pictures of Sandy’s poi or mine or anyone elses, would he be able to identify that man as the one who came to see him? Now I completely agree with Sandy about the name given and id was probably faked and the man Tarbox saw probably even would have disguised himself but maybe not and it might be worth asking him about this. He would hopefully be a trustworthy and ethical person who had sharp observation skills considering his background.

Thank you so much for six sharing your story Capricorn. The hotel that you are talking about sounds like the one that I stayed at when I was in San Francisco for the anniversary of Paul Stine that Tom Voight organized. The first night I stayed near the Presidio however the second night I stayed near Union Square. I Google map the hotel and it shows that it is only .2 miles from the San Francisco Chronicle. It is also within very close proximity of where it is believed that Paul Stine picked up Z. The hotel reminds me of several that I have stayed in in Europe and is what I’m guessing you mean by European-style. The room we stayed in was very small and had two twin beds in it. The hotel name is the Powell hotel and here is a picture of the lobby I found online. The hotel is also very close to a lot of shopping although I have a feeling a lot of the stores are newer.

Wow! Thanks, Susie. I do think I found this one when I was looking but just couldn’t be sure from the angles of the photos. If this wasn’t it, the one where we were had to be very close to it as the location fit like you say, close to shopping and we were able to walk with our luggage to the parking structure (he may have dropped me off with the luggage though) but I know this parking structure wasn’t more than several blocks. We were both younger of course and in good shape so it could have been a little more than that…it just wasn’t next door or right next door or very close. I do remember there was an awning outside the entrance at that time I am pretty sure.

Now the name of this hotel does not ring any bells with me which is unusual as I will recognize names like this right away with a clue if I’ve forgotten. I’m thinking over all this time, it most assuredly has been redecorated and refurbished and could well have been sold and re-opened with another name. I’m thinking it had a foreign sounding name, ie. La Whatever but could very well be wrong and just completely forgot the name and have no accurate recall here.

This is typical of old SF architecture though so there are probably others quite like it.

I remember our room was very small as well and overlooked the street and we were upstairs but don’t remember the floor. The bathroom had the typical old fixtures and small tiles IIRC and I think I probably had made the reservation or given him the name and he did it. The place had been recommended to me by a good male friend who had stayed there and who had traveled extensively in Europe and told me he knew I’d like it as it was so much like the ones in Europe. The bathroom was to the right of the bedroom in our room.

Was there a dining room? It is exciting to know you got to go there! I’d love to hear all the details of that trip and would have loved to join you but just wouldn’t dare involve myself publicly in this type of thing right now for something that would be sure to be publicized. I’ve thought I’d like to just go there soon by myself and revisit the area to perhaps jog more memories plus the fact I love SF. Now that I have a name and good lead I will check the online site and photos so I can try to tell from the various angles if I can be sure one way or the other.

I don’t think there was a dining room per se there. There may have been one off the lobby but if so it was closed when we were there. We never had lunch or dinner there and I’m not sure if they served a continental breakfast in the lobby or off the lobby. I vaguely think they did and we had croissants and juice and coffee and it was as close to the European kind as you could get. I don’t think there was a menu where you could order anything much else but again, I could be very wrong about this and we just didn’t eat there at all and bypassed any eating areas as we went out. I’m vaguely picturing some small tables for two with cloth tablecloths and a small flower in the vases on a few tables against the wall and kind of towards the outside corner off the main entrance but this is very vague.

Anyway, the place was nice and clean but old and the room was very plainly furnished as I remember but suited us just fine. My friend probably would have reserved a room at the Motel Six if I hadn’t told him about this place my friend recommended to me and I so wanted him to share my enthusiasm for Europe since he’d never been there! Their rates were also quite reasonable I am sure for the time and was another reason why we were glad to find it.

I didn’t see a dining room however I didn’t look for it when either. They did have a continental breakfast and it was served on the floor just above the lobby. There was kind of a landing type area there that had tables and a couch and they set the breakfast up in that area. i’m going to try to find a picture of the main entrance of the hotel. There was also a side entrance that went down at narrow hallway that we used a few times

This is the only photograph I can find of an entrance to the Powell Hotel. Hotel has been there since 1908 and there are six floors. But also list that there is one restaurant.

Thanks Susie. How did you like the Powell?

I think this has to be the place where we stayed. The front entrance looks like it and I’m pretty sure that the front desk was on the right side after you entered the lobby and the room extended out to the left once you were inside. I just can’t tell from the photos I see and from their website. The "Cafe Bellini" rings a bell but I don’t remember the mezzanine but that could be where we ate and I just thought it was downstairs on the ground floor. The location certainly fits and the description I read quickly. We did walk all over and to North Beach and Chinatown at night.

It looks to me like they’ve probably replaced the windows around the front door at least and those pillars near the elevators have been recently painted or replastered or maybe even added as well as redone the decor but the actual rooms look like it if the furniture was gone.

If I come across anything about it in my memorabilia, I’ll let you know but otherwise I’m thinking this just had to be it. I think if I were actually there in person, I’d know for sure.

Thanks Susie. How did you like the Powell?

I think this has to be the place where we stayed. The front entrance looks like it and I’m pretty sure that the front desk was on the right side after you entered the lobby and the room extended out to the left once you were inside. I just can’t tell from the photos I see and from their website. The "Cafe Bellini" rings a bell but I don’t remember the mezzanine but that could be where we ate and I just thought it was downstairs on the ground floor. The location certainly fits and the description I read quickly. We did walk all over and to North Beach and Chinatown at night.

It looks to me like they’ve probably replaced the windows around the front door at least and those pillars near the elevators have been recently painted or replastered or maybe even added as well as redone the decor but the actual rooms look like it if the furniture was gone.

If I come across anything about it in my memorabilia, I’ll let you know but otherwise I’m thinking this just had to be it. I think if I were actually there in person, I’d know for sure.

The hotel is nice for the price. It was basic, but clean. Our view was of a roof so that wasn’t great, but it was very reasonably priced for San Francisco. The reviews I read I felt people were being a little picky. When you are staying in a hotel that is over 100 years old there’s going to be some evidence of wear.