If we want to discover the motivation and design of a Zodiac communication, we usually have to look no further than one or two newspaper articles precedent to the correspondence in question. Can the preceding newspaper article in the San Francisco Chronicle on October 12th 1970 tell us anything about the Halloween card mailed on October 27th 1970, including an answer to the strange symbolism depicted on the envelope address side and card inner.
The newspaper article was entitled "Gilbert and Sullivan Clue to Zodiac". Therefore, it shouldn't be any surprise that the Zodiac Killer chose a greeting card that opened with the wording "From your secret pal. I feel it in your bones, You ache to know my name, And so I'll clue you in". This was the only communication thus far that contained white text, which the Zodiac Killer adopted by adding 4-TEEN, BOO and the symbolim at the foot of the card, rather than using pasted newspaper clippings. The Zodiac Killer was very likely claiming 14 victims when he wrote this total on the skeleton's hand on the front of the card, followed by a head count of 4-TEEN above the second skeleton on the card inner, and concluding with the symbolism at foot of the card.
The newspaper article was entitled "Gilbert and Sullivan Clue to Zodiac". Therefore, it shouldn't be any surprise that the Zodiac Killer chose a greeting card that opened with the wording "From your secret pal. I feel it in your bones, You ache to know my name, And so I'll clue you in". This was the only communication thus far that contained white text, which the Zodiac Killer adopted by adding 4-TEEN, BOO and the symbolim at the foot of the card, rather than using pasted newspaper clippings. The Zodiac Killer was very likely claiming 14 victims when he wrote this total on the skeleton's hand on the front of the card, followed by a head count of 4-TEEN above the second skeleton on the card inner, and concluding with the symbolism at foot of the card.
The Zodiac Killer likely combined his victim count of 4-TEEN with the claimed murders of four teenagers by October 27th 1970. Having claimed the August 3rd 1969 San Jose murders of Kathie Reyne Snoozy (15) and Debra Gaye Furlong (14) in his Dripping Pen card by the addiition of "Aug" within a monthly chronological victim count, the Zodiac Killer was effectively telling us that he was incorporating 4 teenagers in his Halloween card victim count of fourteen - David Faraday, Betty Lou Jensen, Kathie Snoozy and Debra Furlong. The October 12th 1970 newspaper article stated "And he is now claiming 13 persons. Homicide detectives who've been hunting Zodiac for nearly two years frankly admit he is as much an enigma now as he was on Dec. 20, 1968, when he chalked up his first two victims. On Dec. 20, 1968, he gunned down teen-agers David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen". The Halloween card entry of a hyphenated 4-TEEN, not only incorporated his first two victims within his total, but "chalked them up" in blackboard style writing. The Zodiac Killer had written "14" on the hand of the first skeleton, "4-TEEN" over the skull of the second skeleton, so it could be argued that the symbolism at the foot of the card containing what appeared to be a joined "F", was likely "fourteen" as well The symbolism could represent "Zodiac Fourteen" or "Zodiac Victims Fourteen" (with the four dots representing the four teenagers, just as he had incorporated them by separating "4" and "TEEN" earlier). His victim totals all neatly chalked up within the Halloween card.
The vast majority of the newspaper article was dedicated to the two act comic opera, The Mikado, and the search for individuals who may have played Ko-Ko in recent years, Many Zodiac researchers have considered whether the Zodiac Killer was of British origin, had British parents, or was influenced by British theatrical plays, based upon the language he adopted in his communications. It is extremely likely that the Zodiac Killer chose to write PEEK-A-BOO around the knothole of a tree because he knew the alternative British term for this saying.
"Peekaboo (also spelled peek-a-boo) is a form of play played with an infant. To play, one player hides their face, pops back into the view of the other, and says Peekaboo!, sometimes followed by I see you! There are many variations: for example, where trees are involved, "Hiding behind that tree!" is sometimes added. Another variation involves saying "Where's the baby?" while the face is covered and "There's the baby!" when uncovering the face". Wikipedia. A British term for "peek-a-boo" is "peep-bo" - which just happens to be one of the characters from The Mikado.
The Zodiac Killer chose the introduction on the Halloween card outer in response to the newspaper article entitled "Gilbert and Sullivan Clue to Zodiac", because it stated "And so I'll clue you in". He then responded to this introduction by inserting "peek-a-boo" around the knothole of a tree, with an eye peering from within. A saying which has the alternative of peep-bo - a character from the Gilbert and Sullivan opera. The teaser of "I'll clue you in" and the answer of "peep-bo" both inspired by The Mikado featured in the October 12th 1970 newspaper article. The Zodiac Killer would not give us the Ko-Ko investigators were desperately attempting to track down, only the protector or ward of Ko-Ko.
"Peekaboo (also spelled peek-a-boo) is a form of play played with an infant. To play, one player hides their face, pops back into the view of the other, and says Peekaboo!, sometimes followed by I see you! There are many variations: for example, where trees are involved, "Hiding behind that tree!" is sometimes added. Another variation involves saying "Where's the baby?" while the face is covered and "There's the baby!" when uncovering the face". Wikipedia. A British term for "peek-a-boo" is "peep-bo" - which just happens to be one of the characters from The Mikado.
The Zodiac Killer chose the introduction on the Halloween card outer in response to the newspaper article entitled "Gilbert and Sullivan Clue to Zodiac", because it stated "And so I'll clue you in". He then responded to this introduction by inserting "peek-a-boo" around the knothole of a tree, with an eye peering from within. A saying which has the alternative of peep-bo - a character from the Gilbert and Sullivan opera. The teaser of "I'll clue you in" and the answer of "peep-bo" both inspired by The Mikado featured in the October 12th 1970 newspaper article. The Zodiac Killer would not give us the Ko-Ko investigators were desperately attempting to track down, only the protector or ward of Ko-Ko.