Capítulo 2 de 30 · 5'06"
A voice on the phone admits to killings and hangs up; later a letter reaches the Chronicle claiming the murders and offering proof only the killer and police would know. The newsroom reads it out — "To prove I killed them, I shall state some facts which only I and the police know" — before anyone grasps the danger.
The Confession and the School Run
❝ Monólogo · 16 frases The letter claims the killings and wants page one
From Dear Editor to ammo brands, each line ropes the paper into the crime.
Someone calls in a confession, then the San Francisco Chronicle receives a letter from a writer claiming the murders. The staff reads its details aloud, including a promise to prove guilt and a demand to print a cipher on the front page. Editors debate how to cover it while a reporter senses a story getting out of hand.
The scene is built on the gap between newsroom banter and what is actually in the letter. The staff joke about the crime beat, then go quiet as lines like "To prove I killed them, I shall state some facts which only I and the police know" are read out. What makes it unnerving is the killer's request to be published: he isn't hiding, he's asking for a stage. The paper faces its own dilemma, because printing the cipher both sells papers and feeds the man's appetite for attention. The half-joking remark about it being "the beginning of a crime wave" lands less as a joke than a forecast, and the whole office is suddenly part of the story rather than just covering it.
A1–C2 es la escala MCER. Las tarjetas por encima del nivel elegido se atenúan y la reproducción no se pausa en ellas.
“"To prove I killed them, "I shall state some facts which only I and the police know.”
A calm opening that proves guilt by offering details only the killer could know.
Formal
“Horrid. I'm thinking we go with not so horrid.”
A one-word verdict, then a half-retraction: the whole agony of word-picking in one breath.
Informal
“It may be the beginning of a crime wave.”
It frames one killing as the start of something bigger, and the understatement is what stings.
Neutral
“You can't do that. It's not good for you.”
A warning in two beats: stop first, then explain it's for your own good. Firm and caring at once.
Informal
"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.
Siguiente · 03shed light onLa escena: Zodiac's Cipher Reaches the ChronicleThe writer wants publicity. By demanding space on the front page and offering proof only he and the police would know, he turns the newspaper into his stage.
The staff take turns with it, reading out details about the victims, the ammunition, and the demand to print a cipher, so everyone can see how specific the claims are.
Both present the same person claiming responsibility. The call is brief and hangs up, while the letter arrives at the paper with far more detail and a request to publish.
Publishing is the biggest story available, but it also gives the writer exactly the attention he asks for, which is the dilemma the editors begin to weigh.
