Yeah I thought it was those and the next letter as well. I suspect they are all blue. I know the Chron letter is because I have the first page of it in colour but the second page is grayscale. The Examiner is grayscale and the Times is B&W or bitmap. So in colour I would assume that they are all blue ink. A minor point and not a correction but I’m just taking the opportunity to clarify.

I am thankful that you pointed it Trav. I always appeaciate it because as we all know there are enough misconceptions and incorrect claims and rumours that have been attached to this case over time and I really have no interest in adding to them
That colour one you have posted above the lower case e seem to have the dots if you look carefully (seem less obvious that the other letter) and in the third letter now they consistently appear in the same spot on the letter, and yet again it’s a different location to the other two letters. The other two saw the dots appear on the top in one, bottom of the other, and now to the extreme right of the e’s loop. Can you see examples of it?

Can’t say I did notice that Trav. I was too baffled as to why the dots changed location on the e for one letter on the bottom, to being atop the e in the other.

And Trav, the position the dot appears in consistently in the "I am the murderer of the Taxi Driver over by…." at the top of the e in the centre of it. Would you agree that not only would this be a highly unusual place to start your letter e’s when you write them, but it’s actually impractical to start at that position because you cannot start to construct a lower case e at that position and complete the letter with one motion because you would either have to stop and double back over what you had just wrote or you would have to use two strokes to do it. The Dot is at the summit of the e’s but there is no sign of doubling back over himself nor is there clear evidence, that I can see anyway, of consistently using two strokes for the e’s construction. So once these have been rules out, why would it be there? Is he just pissing around and dabbing the top of each e with his pen? Well that would be a highly pointless exercise with nobody noticing it anyway. They are not there by random ink marks or a consistent feature of the letter construction itself because while they are extremely consistent in their position through each letter itself, they are not in the same location in each of the letters. l

I’m not really sure myself yet WC. I think it’s a very interesting thing to consider and explore. I don’t really have any clear thought’s on it except to say that, as with all things Zodiac, nothing is ever simple. There have been discussions in the past that considered that not only did he possibly do something like rotation to disguise the writing but possibly other things. I myself posted on the notion that he wrote the damn things on a washboard type surface because there’s an almost wave like pattern to the flow of the lines.

There is also the condition of the pen to consider and the environment in which he wrote. Was he in a basement? maybe with a washing machine and a dryer that caused a humid atmosphere. Adding a dampness to the paper and causing the ink to dilute and spread in unnatural positions? I’m not sure that would alter the ‘apparent’ start points though but who knows? It might create things that look like them though. Looking at the behavior of the ink overall on the more blotchy ones does suggest to me that something other than a nice, neat transfer of ink to paper was happening. Something was affecting it, possibly lol.

Looking beyond that though and, that is what I think you are doing, is the way to go, if I were looking at it. Build up pattern that you can explain to yourself and is relatively uncomplicated, that’s how I try to approach these things because there’s so much noise that be introduced (see my ramblings in the previous paragraph as an example).

Sorry to be so vague but I need to wait and see what you think yourself as your investigation progresses. I’ve started many of these types of exercises only to decide, down the line that I’m not sure there was actually anything in it.

I like to let things sink in and ruminate on them so keep digging. A really interesting thing to look at and not one I think that has been tackled before. Great Job.

No its ok. I don’t really have an opinion on these dots so I wouldn’t say I am looking beyond anything yet because I don’t have a clue about the reasons for what is in front of me on paper
I just posted this because I found them extremely odd appearing in two letters but on different places consistently. I am clueless as the reason for them nor if they mean anything specific.

Interesting, WC. Those dots in the e’s are definitely in a strange location. Also, there’s one in the and symbol (+) that looks out of sorts. Could it just be the pen he was using?

Good stuff WC.

Thank god you’re tackling it because there’s plenty of other shenanigans going on in the writing and that’s what I’m looking at, at the moment. Whilst you’re investigating the ink and it’s little hidden habits I would be interested to know what you think of the ‘double dots’. I found them whilst looking at Manalli’s writing.

As for e’s. Did you spot that he alternates them? Sometimes within the same word. One he follows through on the stroke and the other he terminates.

Weird. Some look like quotation marks, others look like little circles or something.

No its ok. I don’t really have an opinion on these dots so I wouldn’t say I am looking beyond anything yet because I don’t have a clue about the reasons for what is in front of me on paper
I just posted this because I found them extremely odd appearing in two letters but on different places consistently. I am clueless as the reason for them nor if they mean anything specific.

Welcome to my world lol.

Oh believe me Trav I have had days where I just get so frustrated with Zodiac that I wish I knew who he was just so I could tell him just how much of a *Bleeping* selfish *Bleep* and then tell him how frustrating a puzzle he left behind and etc etc. I then when I had finished having my say and calling him everything, I would simply put the phone down. Hehe.

Oh believe me Trav I have had days where I just get so frustrated with Zodiac that I wish I knew who he was just so I could tell him just how much of a *Bleeping* selfish *Bleep* and then tell him how frustrating a puzzle he left behind and etc etc. I then when I had finished having my say and calling him everything, I would simply put the phone down. Hehe.

Just remember to get the key for the 340 out of him first.

EDIT: Just to add. Regarding the ‘double dots’ If I were to take a punt as to why they are it would be that the pen he was using was well used. The nib of a felt tip, consisting of fibres, has a tendency to displace or separate over time and become less like a tip and more like a brush. There is of course the question of longevity of ink supply. Are the dots the result of the pen he has used from his first letters (1969) simply loosing connectivity in the tip fibres? It would explain the ‘scratchy’ nature of the ink in those letters. But would a single pen last that long? Well….if he was only using it for the Zodiac letters then quite possibly.

Others have noted in the past that some of the ‘things’ we see in the ink behaviour could be attributed to ‘renewal tricks’. Breathing on the nib, dipping it in vinegar (might have made that one up lol). What is interesting though is the possibility that he could have had a ‘favourite’ pen but then some of the letters do seem to exhibit different widths so maybe, at best, a few pens?

He seemed to like blue though didn’t he? Wonder what that says?

Oh believe me Trav I have had days where I just get so frustrated with Zodiac that I wish I knew who he was just so I could tell him just how much of a *Bleeping* selfish *Bleep* and then tell him how frustrating a puzzle he left behind and etc etc. I then when I had finished having my say and calling him everything, I would simply put the phone down. Hehe.

Just remember to get the key for the 340 out of him first.

Hmmm, I don’t know Trav. I gotta be honest, if Zodiac were to turn a corner and stand right in front of me, I’m really struggling to see myself say "Zode……May I have the Key to the 340 Cipher please?" Not seeing it myself.
If we discovered where he lived though I would accompany you to his home so you could knock his door and ask him. I will be there to back you up so have no fears. I will be 200 yards down the street hiding behind a bush. Shout ‘help’ if he pulls a gun on you and I assure you and give you my word, I would run away in the other direction.

Really? come on now…two grown celtic men confronting a coward and an elderly one at that? TBH I would more conflicted over whether to headbutt him or offer to make a nice cup of tea to calm his nerves lol.

With regards what you have possibly found here. It’s really good observation. The things or points that I bring up from people’s posts in the past aren’t to say "That’s been discussed and sorted" no, not at all. I only bring them up as points of similar reference, things that may be of interest in this investigation. I’m just aware that the way these things are said might sound like "already covered, let it go" not the case at all. Just trying to provide more avenues of thought to help in what you are looking at.

Looking at these things is never easy. It starts with a thought and very quickly becomes exciting. Then it runs out of steam but don’t let it. If it takes months or years to see it through, take your time and take breaks. More power to you for seeing it. The seed is already planted, lets see where it leads and, if we can, we’re all here to help. In our own weird little ways.

Really? come on now…two grown celtic men confronting a coward and an elderly one at that? TBH I would more conflicted over whether to headbutt him or offer to make a nice cup of tea to calm his nerves lol.

No time sorry! My mini-cab has arrived to take me to Northern Nevada Memorial Cemetery where Lawrence Cane is buried. I’ll see what I can dig up while I am there.

Well Thank you. I am sure that the evidence that is needed to solve and close this case is already there. Maybe it’s in some FBI file that has the Name redacted so we are unaware, or in some evidence storage box that is full of dust down at Vallejo PD evidence Storage. I know I do have a bit of a laugh now and then but the truth of it is I want Zodiac’s name that anything he may have been held in high regard for in his life can be stripped away from him. Every time I look at that photo of Betty Lou Jensen where she’s smiling because she has a World out there to explore and life is just starting for her, then she’s shot down like a dog on a dark lane on her own with nobody to help her, that makes me want the man’s name known really badly! I know the suspect I always point to as the man responsible is Kane but I honestly Couldn’t care if that was completely wrong I just don’t think he should remain unknown to this day because he could be remembered for being something he isn’t, like Cane being in a Veteran’s Memorial plot and is a celebrated WWII hero. If he is Zodiac he doesn’t deserve to be buried as a National Hero.

Anyway, back to the subject of the odd points. I think we can all look and study little dots on papers and letters all we want and they will still just be odd dots lol. I wish I knew someone who had studied Graphology or was a forensic document examiner because they would probably at the very least be able to say what they believe it may be the result of. Maybe even state they know the pattern and have seen it before, who knows?

Interesting find, but I do think that it depends on the pen Z had written with. A thick pen would rather create a dot at the end, when the pen is still on the paper however has finished the letter. A stylo, like it might have been used in the Stine letter, could react more when the writing angle.

qT

Qt if it was the case that the Zodiac caused these dots by leaving a thicker pen in contact with the letter as he ended it, then wouldn’t you expect the blotches appear in both letters in the same position on top of the e’s for example? After all, if he is writing his natural style then any thing like a blotch at the end of a letter would be in the same place consistently because he would simply write his letter e the same way every time which would mean the end result was be consistent also?

I would…if there were no stylo’s…they are somehow different and harder to write ‘around the corner’, imo.

https://www.eofficeshop.de/artikel_Schr … 22551.html

QT

This was actually discussed a few years back, in the context of whether the handwriting in general was Z’s natural hand or whether he was attempting to disguise same in some way. I’ve never seen the actual "claim"but it was claimed, that experts said the handwrinting was natural because the letters were written at speed.
While not an expert, I don’t know how that could be , especially in relation to the Stine letter…as WC points out in his first post, these dots only occur when there is a
pause/the nib stalls on the page. At face vale it appears it was written slowly and methodically….but does that mean the handwriting is contrived? I also wonder if the "slant" just gives the illusion of speed?