Thomas Amo: An Apple for Zoë: Book One ~ The Forsaken

"So did half the girls in the Manson Family, Mike. So far I can't find any evidence that tells me she was into drugs, or that she was a high price call girl, yet on top of her weird murder, we got this guy in the closet hung and bound with barbwire. And I can't link him to Amanda," said James.

"And there was no identification on him, I take it?"

James shook his head no and handed Kirkland the note from the lapel of the dead man.

"Just this."

Kirkland opened the note to read its contents. " Pretty Ballerina , what the hell does that mean? You think the killer is suggesting the guy's a fag?"

"What?"

"Yeah, think about it. The guy is in the closet, a term used for those who haven't come out yet, and he leaves a note that says 'pretty ballerina,' could be."

"Actually it's a song."

"What?"

"Yeah, The Left Banke , remember them?"

"I remember, Walk Away Renee.

James nodded, "Same band. Anyway I think this note was left for me personally."

"Why?"

James took in a deep breath; he rose from his chair and closed the door to his office. Kirkland could see the conversation was about to get very serious. "I've never told anyone this, but when I was 14, I was at a girlfriend's house. We were in her bedroom making out and someone was standing at her window watching us. We heard a noise outside her window, I looked and saw some guy walking away down to the corner at Washington and Maple."

"Okay, so, you got a peeper who gets off watching kids screw around. How does that have anything to do with this?"

"The song playing on the radio that night was Pretty Ballerina.

Kirkland sat looking puzzled, as James unfolded more of the bizarre events.

"And that night wasn't just any old Saturday night in San Francisco. It happened to be October 11, 1969." Kirkland uttered a stunned whisper. "Zodiac."

"I met him you know," said James.

"Zodiac?" asked Kirkland.

"It was later that same night. As it happens Julie lived just two blocks from Washington and Cherry. After I calmed her down, we both thought it best that I head on home before her father did catch us. I started home right about 9:40 p.m. and as I'm walking up Cherry towards Washington I see a figure walking towards me from the other direction. I wouldn't have given it another thought, but I noticed the guy was lumbering along. Just like the guy who I saw standing at the corner about 40 minutes earlier. He continued his slow lumbering walk, and I stopped to think about crossing the street to avoid him, when he called to me."

Kirkland could see the uneasiness return to James as he recounted the story.

"He says, ' Hey kid, can you tell me the time?' I start to say sure, when I see the guy already has on a watch. Which only creeps me out even more. I quickly glance at my watch and say 21:45. The guy stops and looks me dead in the eye. It's dark out and there's no light I can't really see anything except the top of his crew cut and edges of his horn-rimmed glasses. But his eyes were white. I mean really white Mike. Scared the shit out me. He then says, ' So you know military time?' I say the only thing I can think of which was, my father, he taught me. He's a retired navy man. The guy then says 'Navy man huh?' Then the guy got really quiet and looked around as if he's trying to make a decision. Then without looking at me says. 'You better get on home kid, it's getting late. The Zodiac might get you.' Then he just walked past me, continued down the street, turned the corner and was gone. I was so scared, I ran the rest of the way home, and I swear Mike, I have never told a soul that story. I mean no one. You are the first person I've ever repeated it to." James sat down heavily at his desk. He felt weary from talking about his brush with death.

"So after you became a cop, you never looked into the Zodiac files? You never talked to any of the guys who worked it?"

"Come on Mike, I was 14 when this happened. I never said anything because if I tell and they don't catch him then I'm as good as dead. By time I joined, Zodiac was beyond being a cold case, and it wasn't as if I could really help the investigation any further," stated James.

"Are you kidding Tom? If you really were face to face with Zodiac, then you're probably the only person he ever let go."

Both men sat in silence. James stood and stared out the window. His mind was a flood of confusing thoughts. Finally Kirkland broke the silence.

"Was it Arthur Leigh Allen?"

James stood with his back to Kirkland. The memory flashed in his mind's eye. He then turned and faced his friend.

"It was dark. But yeah, I always thought so."

"God was looking out for you that night, Tom."

"Oh come on Mike, you know I don't believe in that crap. The guy already killed the cab driver, maybe he got spooked or I just got lucky. But I don't believe there was any divine intervention. Not for a moment."

"You wait Tom, someday you will feel very differently. Mark my words. Okay so, do you think that after all this time, Zodiac is still alive and left a note to remind you of that night?"

James shook his head. "God, Mike, that's just too surreal to be true. I mean it can't be. Arthur Leigh Allen died in 1992. And if it really was Zodiac the guy would have to be in his late seventies, hell even eighties. No, this crime scene was clever. Calculating and for lack of a better term, evil. And then there's the note. Only three people in the world could possibly know what it means. And that is myself, the guy in the window and Julie."

"Where is Julie today? Would you have any idea?"

"Maybe Los Angeles. The last time I saw her was at her mother's funeral. That was 13 years ago. We actually considered getting back together since neither of us had ever married."

"So why didn't you?" asked Kirkland.

"We spent a few nights together and as wonderful as it was, we both somehow felt it would never work. She had to return to Hollywood and care for her father and I already had over twenty years with the department. I couldn't just give all that up to chase a childhood crush."

Kirkland gave a disappointed look. "That's too bad Tom. True love rarely comes once in a lifetime let alone twice."

"We both promised to write. But I never got a letter from her. There hasn't been a day I didn't regret letting her go from my life."

"You ever think about trying to find her again?"

Thoughts of Julie gave James a feeling he had long missed. The feelings then gave way to even more sadness. "I have Mike, but I have to think, she's moved on with her life now. She could be married with children of her own. I mean she never wrote back so I think that sort of says it all. Besides if she is married I honestly don't think I would want to know. I mean at the moment, she still belongs to me. My memory of her is still the beautiful brunette that I was head over heels in love with. The girl I eventually lost my virginity to."

Kirkland started laughing, "Okay, too much information."

"Hey you asked," stated James.

Kirkland's mind raced as he tried to put everything into perspective. "Tom, you think the guy in the closet was also the guy in the window?"

James nodded in agreement. "I did consider that. But think about it. I mean let's say the guy in the closet is him, and he did kill Amanda. For all of his cleverness and planning, how can he be certain that I'm going to be the investigating detective? I mean isn't that the whole ball game?"

"Not at all. It's fifty-fifty odds. If he gets you on the crime scene, then for him, it's a stroke of good luck. But even if he doesn't, this thing is too spooky and bizarre. Someone is going to say something about the note. You're going to hear about it, and then he's got your attention."