his three daughters, Linda, Karen, and Susan, and
crawled into bed. Every bone in his body ached and cried for sleep, but he tossed and turned al night. He could not get that watch out of his mind.
And a neighbor had seen a bloody knife, dying only days after glimpsing the blade.
Wednesday, August 11, 1971
At 11:00 A.M., Mulanax got hold of Bob Luce, owner-operator of the Arco station at 640 Broadway in Val ejo. Mulanax told Luce, “I’m conducting an
investigation on a former employee.” He did not tel him why right off.
“Leigh worked for me on a part-time schedule for about half a year,” Luce explained, “but tended to be undependable. And there were those
complaints about him and children . . . he seemed too interested in smal girls. In April [1969] he came to work drunk again—once too often for me. I
fired him.” Mulanax wondered if the job loss had precipitated the July 4, 1969, Blue Rock Springs shootings by Zodiac. Mulanax laid his cards on
the table. This was unusual. “I knew Mulanax pretty wel ,” Bawart told me. “Mulanax was a kind of a close-to-the-vest guy.”
Mulanax brought up the possibility that Al en might have used Phil Tucker’s car to commit a Zodiac murder. “Tucker had his car here al right, but
it wasn’t for as long as two weeks,” Luce said. “No, that’s not right.” Tucker himself hadn’t kept a record of the dates, and Mulanax badly needed
Luce’s repair invoice. In spite of a diligent search, they could not uncover the exact days the Corvair had been left overnight at the station. On the
July 4, 1969, date of the Blue Rock Springs shootings, Al en was no longer working at the Arco station, and so the repair record didn’t matter—
unless Leigh had kept a set of keys to the station or made his own.
At 5:00 that evening, Mulanax contacted Tucker’s wife, Joan, at her home. Joan substantiated her husband’s story about the gray box and the
papers tucked inside. “I had been very interested in the content of the papers,” she said, “since I was preparing for a col ege psychology exam.
Leigh explained he had received these papers from a patient at Atascadero, and I said my interest was directed toward the working of this
person’s mind. I was impressed by the neatness and exactness of the printing and of the arcane symbols.”
The detective showed her Zodiac ciphers clipped from three Bay Area papers. Joan identified numerous symbols as being the same as those
on papers Al en had showed her. Her recol ection was that these were drawn with a felt-tip pen. At 5:30 Tucker returned from work and Mulanax
showed him the same cryptograms. He too thought certain symbols looked the same as those Al en had shown him.
“And we stil haven’t been able to track down the exact date you left your Corvair at the Arco station,” said Mulanax.
“I didn’t have any luck either,” Tucker said, “but I do remember that when my car was not sold, I left it parked in front of my father-in-law’s house for
a considerable period of time. It’s possible that Al en could have driven the car during this period, but I don’t know if he did. My in-laws are in
Europe now, and when they get back I’l ask them if they know.” The in-laws knew Leigh Al en as a friend of their son-in-law, and would not have
thought it strange to see him around the Corvair. Tucker began to speak more freely of his former employee.
“Leigh is a schizophrenic personality,” Tucker said. During Leigh’s therapy five different personalities had been found. “At times he actual y
seems to live the part of whatever literature he’s reading. He can tel a lie and actual y believe what he is tel ing is the truth.” Mulanax’s eyebrows
went up. This was a very interesting talent—one that might stand a lie detector on its head. Once more Mulanax heard that Al en truly hated women
and had said so on many occasions. No one hated women as much as Zodiac. The only victims that had
crawled into bed. Every bone in his body ached and cried for sleep, but he tossed and turned al night. He could not get that watch out of his mind.
And a neighbor had seen a bloody knife, dying only days after glimpsing the blade.
Wednesday, August 11, 1971
At 11:00 A.M., Mulanax got hold of Bob Luce, owner-operator of the Arco station at 640 Broadway in Val ejo. Mulanax told Luce, “I’m conducting an
investigation on a former employee.” He did not tel him why right off.
“Leigh worked for me on a part-time schedule for about half a year,” Luce explained, “but tended to be undependable. And there were those
complaints about him and children . . . he seemed too interested in smal girls. In April [1969] he came to work drunk again—once too often for me. I
fired him.” Mulanax wondered if the job loss had precipitated the July 4, 1969, Blue Rock Springs shootings by Zodiac. Mulanax laid his cards on
the table. This was unusual. “I knew Mulanax pretty wel ,” Bawart told me. “Mulanax was a kind of a close-to-the-vest guy.”
Mulanax brought up the possibility that Al en might have used Phil Tucker’s car to commit a Zodiac murder. “Tucker had his car here al right, but
it wasn’t for as long as two weeks,” Luce said. “No, that’s not right.” Tucker himself hadn’t kept a record of the dates, and Mulanax badly needed
Luce’s repair invoice. In spite of a diligent search, they could not uncover the exact days the Corvair had been left overnight at the station. On the
July 4, 1969, date of the Blue Rock Springs shootings, Al en was no longer working at the Arco station, and so the repair record didn’t matter—
unless Leigh had kept a set of keys to the station or made his own.
At 5:00 that evening, Mulanax contacted Tucker’s wife, Joan, at her home. Joan substantiated her husband’s story about the gray box and the
papers tucked inside. “I had been very interested in the content of the papers,” she said, “since I was preparing for a col ege psychology exam.
Leigh explained he had received these papers from a patient at Atascadero, and I said my interest was directed toward the working of this
person’s mind. I was impressed by the neatness and exactness of the printing and of the arcane symbols.”
The detective showed her Zodiac ciphers clipped from three Bay Area papers. Joan identified numerous symbols as being the same as those
on papers Al en had showed her. Her recol ection was that these were drawn with a felt-tip pen. At 5:30 Tucker returned from work and Mulanax
showed him the same cryptograms. He too thought certain symbols looked the same as those Al en had shown him.
“And we stil haven’t been able to track down the exact date you left your Corvair at the Arco station,” said Mulanax.
“I didn’t have any luck either,” Tucker said, “but I do remember that when my car was not sold, I left it parked in front of my father-in-law’s house for
a considerable period of time. It’s possible that Al en could have driven the car during this period, but I don’t know if he did. My in-laws are in
Europe now, and when they get back I’l ask them if they know.” The in-laws knew Leigh Al en as a friend of their son-in-law, and would not have
thought it strange to see him around the Corvair. Tucker began to speak more freely of his former employee.
“Leigh is a schizophrenic personality,” Tucker said. During Leigh’s therapy five different personalities had been found. “At times he actual y
seems to live the part of whatever literature he’s reading. He can tel a lie and actual y believe what he is tel ing is the truth.” Mulanax’s eyebrows
went up. This was a very interesting talent—one that might stand a lie detector on its head. Once more Mulanax heard that Al en truly hated women
and had said so on many occasions. No one hated women as much as Zodiac. The only victims that had
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