“"This is the Zodiac speaking.”
Por qué es buena
A broadcast-style self-introduction that turns a name into a reign of fear.
Registro
Formal
Úsala tú
Hi, this is your new neighbor speaking.
This is your host speaking, live from the studio.
00:00 / 04:58
00:00 / 04:58
Zodiac Claims the Taxi Murder, Explained
Zodiac · 2007
Capítulo 7 de 30 · 4'58"
The Zodiac letter arrives with proof of the taxi killing and a new threat against children. The newsroom's first question is whether any of it can be printed — “Is this on the record?” — while police try to keep the school-bus threat quiet before the story breaks anyway.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:28–0:51
❝ Monólogo · 6 frases The Zodiac Letter Read Aloud
23s - 3:31–4:46
The Story Breaks and the City Panics
74s
Zodiac Claims the Taxi Murder, explained
What happens
A letter claiming to be from the Zodiac confesses to the murder of a taxi driver, includes a blood-stained scrap of the victim's shirt as proof, and threatens to shoot children on a school bus. Detectives compare handwriting and blood, the newsroom debates what it can publish, and the story finally breaks with a police tip line.
What's really going on
The letter is a performance designed to prove the writer is the Zodiac, and the scene is about how institutions handle that performance. The blood-stained cloth is the price of credibility; the school-bus threat is the lever that forces a response. “Is this on the record?” lays out the newsroom's dilemma in one line: the public wants the truth, and publishing the truth may also spread the threat. The compromise — print the letter but cut the school-bus line, then keep the staff quiet — collapses almost immediately. What the scene really dramatizes is the impossible middle: you cannot both calm a city and keep a killer's promise secret.
Key lines & what they mean
- “"This is the Zodiac speaking.”
- The letter opens by claiming the name outright, an assertion of identity that everything else in the note is meant to support.
- “"To prove this, here is a blood-stained piece of his shirt.”
- The enclosed cloth is offered as physical proof, turning the confession into something the police can actually verify.
- “"School children make nice targets.”
- The letter's escalation: children are described as easy targets, which is why the threat cannot stay internal.
- “"I think I shall wipe out a school bus some morning.”
- A specific and horrifying plan stated calmly, which is exactly what forces the newsroom to weigh publication against panic.
- “It is you waiting in the hall if you speak again.”
- A dry threat from someone trying to concentrate: keep interrupting and you'll be sent out of the room.
Theme
- Power — A single letter forces the police and a newspaper to negotiate what the public is allowed to know.
- Secrets — The newsroom plans to withhold the school-bus threat, and the attempt to keep it quiet falls apart immediately.
Qué aprendes en este capítulo
Puntos de enseñanza
Repasa justo después de verMi nivel0/4
A1–C2 es la escala MCER. Las tarjetas por encima del nivel elegido se atenúan y la reproducción no se pausa en ellas.
Puntos de lengua
Toca una tarjeta para saltar a ese momentoFrases de oro
Una gran frase en sí misma: por qué y cómo usarla“"To prove this, here is a blood-stained piece of his shirt.”
Por qué es buena
A victim's shirt as a calling card, offered with the calm of a paperwork attachment.
Registro
Formal
Úsala tú
To prove this, here is a copy of the signed contract.
As proof, here is the receipt you asked for.
“"School children make nice targets.”
Por qué es buena
Children described as good targets—the coldest possible way to announce an atrocity.
Registro
Neutral
Úsala tú
Elderly people make easy targets for phone scams.
Newcomers make convenient scapegoats.
“"I think I shall wipe out a school bus some morning.”
Por qué es buena
A massacre announced like a morning errand, and the casual tone is the weapon.
Registro
Formal
Úsala tú
I think I shall clear out the garage one of these weekends.
I may tear the whole thing down some afternoon.
“It is you waiting in the hall if you speak again.”
Por qué es buena
A punishment stated as a rule, with a precision that is both strict and funny.
Registro
Informal
Úsala tú
It is you standing outside if you talk one more time.
You lose your screen time if you do that again.
Monólogo
Un personaje sostiene la escena: practícalo entero❝ The Zodiac speaking
"This is the Zodiac speaking. "I am the murderer ofthe 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 BayArea. "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."
He scolds the park search in a host's voice, then writes children as targets.
Siguiente · 08skip townLa escena: Police Bicker Over the Zodiac CaseIdeas clave
Lo que te llevas- Hear on the record as quotable
- Use not for publication as a freeze
- Read wipe out as destroy all
- Catch looming as hovering too close
Preguntas frecuentes
La pregunta, luego la fraseHow does the Zodiac prove he killed the taxi driver?
He mails a blood-stained piece of the driver's shirt along with the letter, and claims the details match earlier killings. Police then check whether the blood and fabric actually match the taxi driver.
Why does the newsroom hesitate to publish the letter?
The letter threatens to shoot children on a school bus, and running that detail could set off a city-wide panic. Editors debate printing the confession while cutting the school-bus threat, then quietly drop the plan to hide it.
Why do the police want elimination prints from the staff?
Fingerprints on the letter could belong to the Zodiac, but they could also come from anyone at the paper who handled it. Taking elimination prints lets investigators set those aside and focus on unknown prints.
What does 'on the record' mean here?
It means the information can be officially quoted and printed. When a reporter asks 'Is this on the record?', they are asking whether the source's words can be attributed and published.