Every Archive comes with homework. The fun kind.
Before your Zodiac file arrives, or after you have torn it open, here is what to listen to. Every episode plays right here on the site.
The Listening List: Archive 003
The Zodiac Killer, Part 1
The case told from the first cipher. San Francisco, a killer who wrote to the newspapers, and codes that went unsolved for decades. The perfect primer before you read the case file.
Bring a pencil
Your Zodiac file is interactive. Hidden inside is a coded transmission and a Field Kit that walks you through cracking it by hand: find five clues in the story, build the cipher key, and decode the message. No app, no screen, just you and a pencil. Solve it and you earn Fragment 03 of the Season Cipher, the third of twelve pieces that spell your Keeper's Passphrase.
Missed a fragment?
Joined partway through the season? The Keeper's Key is a printable dossier with every fragment released so far, so you can fill in your tracker and keep up. Annual members get it free in their first envelope.
Ever tried to crack a Zodiac cipher yourself?
Members can go on record. Send your theories and stories to the Archive and the best ones get credited in future files.
Archive 003 · October 2026 · Subscriptions closed. Mails October 15. More warm-ups for every case live in the Case File Companions.