[Graysmith visits with Ken Narlow in Napa]
Robert Graysmith:
Does the name Rick Marshall mean anything to you?
Ken Narlow:
[it does]
What are you after?
Robert Graysmith:
What have you got?
Ken Narlow:
Hypothetically, you just named my favorite suspect in the whole case. This is off the record. Couple of years back, I was trying to get Marshall's prints. I handed him a photo. He looks at it. He's about to give it back and he says, "My goodness, I got fingerprints all over this." And he wipes them off.
Robert Graysmith:
Why didn't you test him for handwriting?
Ken Narlow:
Because when they finally did run his prints... they cleared him against the one in Stine's cab.
Robert Graysmith:
So it's not him?
Ken Narlow:
Maybe yes, maybe no.
Robert Graysmith:
No? What do you mean?
Ken Narlow:
Zodiac left gloves behind at the scene. If he had the foresight to bring gloves with him, how the hell's he gonna accidentally leave a print behind?
Robert Graysmith:
But it was in the victim's blood.
Ken Narlow:
Could have been one of the bystanders, or a cop just reaches out... Boom. False print.
Robert Graysmith:
But that print disqualified 2,500 suspects.
Ken Narlow:
Which is why we used handwriting.
Robert Graysmith:
But not for Rick Marshall.
Ken Narlow:
S.F.P.D. saw a handwritten sign in the window of his house, decided it looked nothing like the Z letters, so they moved on.
Robert Graysmith:
How do they know Rick Marshall wrote the sign?
Ken Narlow:
[smiles]
My thoughts exactly. Rick Marshall was a Navy man. He received code training. He was also a projectionist at a silent film theater.
Robert Graysmith:
How do I get a copy of Rick Marshall's handwriting?
Ken Narlow:
Three ways. One, get a warrant; which you can't. Two, get him to volunteer; which he won't.
Robert Graysmith:
Yeah, and three?
Ken Narlow:
Get creative.
