When they can't get anyone on the tip lineZodiac · 2007 — Chapter 8 of 30 · 5'06" · C1
Police Bicker Over the Zodiac Case, Explained: skip town
Detectives from four jurisdictions trade requests for prints, handwriting and photos while the tip line is swamped, and the one witness who saw Zodiac unmasked has vanished. Told they can't treat the case the ordinary way, they chase a boot print and a witness's memory to "put out a new composite right away."
What happens
Police from San Francisco, Vallejo, Napa and Solano struggle to share evidence on the Zodiac case while tip lines overflow. An officer explains that the only victim who saw Zodiac without a mask has left town. Later a patrolman describes a stocky, crew-cut man he passed near the scene, and the detectives decide to release a new composite.
Listen for
narrow it downhave a word with someonegive or takeskip town
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Now
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Phrase of the scene
skip town
to leave a place suddenly, often to avoid trouble
有人问能不能找某个嫌疑人谈谈，对方摊手说 He skipped town，等于线索当场断掉。
He skipped town a week before the trial.
Also in this scene
- narrow it down
to reduce the range of possibilities
- have a word with someone
to speak to someone privately
- give or take
approximately, with a small margin
Everything marked in this scene
30 notes across 125 lines
they call the switchboard and keep getting put through.keep with a participle
they call the switchboard and keep getting put through.weak form
they call the switchboard and keep getting put through.You got any hard suspects?You got any hard suspects?to reduce the range of possibilities
Well, can't you narrow it down?I would love to, if I could get out of this...conditional clause
I would love to, if I could get out of this...liaison
I would love to, if I could get out of this...We're playing catch up, Jack.liaison
We're playing catch up, Jack.to leave a place suddenly, often to avoid trouble
I can't. He skipped town.I can't. He skipped town.as soon as clause
As soon as he got out, he split.I don't think he wanted to have anything to do with this.Now, we need that print you lifted from the cab and we should have been in on the handwriting.We really should have been in on the handwriting.should have done
We really should have been in on the handwriting.Can't help you.to speak to someone privately
Can I have a word with you?approximately, with a small margin
Give or take. Yeah.Right, not in a hurry. Kind of lumbering along like...He would have been covered in blood.You need to get with a sketch artist.have to for obligation
We have to put out a new composite right away.think of collocation
You can't think of this case in normal police terms.Maybe, maybe not. You're missing the point.-Not for lack of trying. -Not for lack of trying.weak form
-Not for lack of trying. -Not for lack of trying.Police Bicker Over the Zodiac Case, explained
What's really going on
The scene is about how a sprawling investigation stalls. Nobody here is a fool, but the case spans counties, and the first instinct is turf: prints, handwriting and photos are traded like favors. "The road goes both ways," one officer says, and the line doubles as the whole problem: cooperation has become a transaction. Meanwhile the one clean lead, a survivor who could identify Zodiac, simply "skipped town." These are working cops buried in calls, and the killer's greatest advantage is not skill but the ordinary friction of institutions. Even the eyewitness is human and uncertain, remembering a dark jacket and a lumbering walk, which is all the police have to build a face from.
Theme
DutyEach department guards its own case, so the shared job of catching Zodiac stalls at every border.
TrustEvidence is traded like a favor and the road goes both ways, so cooperation never quite happens.
What you'll learn
- Hear swamped as buried in work
- Use skip town for fleeing a city
- Treat catch up as staying behind
- Read catty-corner as diagonally opposite
Listen for
- keep getting put through — weak form
- get out of this — liaison
- catch up — liaison
- Not for lack of trying — weak form
You can't think of this case in normal police terms.The detective's warning that ordinary procedure won't crack a killer who leaves no usable prints across four jurisdictions.
From there on out, he only manages to kill the girls.A grim pattern spotted in the files: after the first attack, only the female victims die and the men survive.
The only guy who's seen Zodiac without a mask is missing?Disbelief that the survivor who could identify the killer has left town and cannot be shown lineups.
I don't think he wanted to have anything to do with this.An officer's guess that the survivor left precisely because he wanted no part of the case.
Questions about this scene
Why does the case get stuck between departments?
The attacks cross county lines, so San Francisco, Vallejo, Napa and Solano each hold part of the evidence and want credit and control, which slows every exchange.
Why is the missing survivor such a problem?
He is the only victim who saw Zodiac without a mask, so his absence removes the one witness who could pick the killer out of a lineup.
What is the Wing Walker boot print?
It's a military-style boot sold only at PX stores, designed to walk on aircraft wings. The print ties the suspect to military access, which is why the detectives want photos of it.
Why do they rush a new composite?
A patrolman describes a stocky, crew-cut man walking near the scene, so the detectives decide to release an updated sketch before the trail cools.
Zodiac · 30 chapters
All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 9at a moment's noticeZodiac Calls the TV Talk Show
Chapter 1creep someone outDarlene Ferrin's Last Drive
Chapter 2I wouldn't kid youThe Zodiac Confession Call
Chapter 3shed light onZodiac's Cipher Reaches the Chronicle
Chapter 4get any ideasZodiac Attacks the Couple at the Lake
Chapter 5a hell of a get-upZodiac's Lake Berryessa Attack
Chapter 6flag a cabThe Presidio Cab Murder
Chapter 7did inZodiac Claims the Taxi Murder
Watching · Chapter 8skip townPolice Bicker Over the Zodiac Case
Chapter 9at a moment's noticeZodiac Calls the TV Talk Show
Chapter 10crack the codeBelli Tries to Catch the Zodiac
Chapter 11What's your angle?Graysmith Cracks the Zodiac Cipher
Chapter 12the more the merrierKathleen Johns Escapes the Zodiac
Chapter 13come out of the woodworkGraysmith Finds the Zodiac's Source
Chapter 14in my gutGraysmith Talks Zodiac on a Date
Chapter 15beat the bushesRiverside Investigators Compare Notes
Chapter 16lost in the shuffleThe Informant Describes Leigh Allen
Chapter 17the whole pointPolice Question Arthur Leigh Allen
Chapter 18greener pasturesPolice Question Leigh Allen's Mother
Chapter 19home turfPolice Build a Case Against Allen
Chapter 20tore out of herePolice Search Allen's Trailer
Chapter 21holding the bagBill Transfers Out of the Chronicle
Chapter 22fade into a footnoteGraysmith Pitches a Zodiac Book
Chapter 23yesterday's newsGraysmith Talks His Way In
Chapter 24more than just a coincidenceGraysmith Follows the Birthday Clue
Chapter 25tread lightlyGraysmith Chases Rick Marshall
Chapter 26blow overThe Letter That Framed Toschi
Chapter 27put yourself out thereGraysmith Chases the Case at Home
Chapter 28get it in your headGraysmith Meets the Theater Owner
Chapter 29the date that didn't endLinda Recalls the Painting Party
Chapter 30cancel each other outRobert Confronts Dave About AllenChapter 8 of 30 · about 111 min to go