I Am in Control of All Things

In Robert Graysmith's book, Zodiac Unmasked, Graysmith mentions the following letter:

Date: July 19, 1978
Mailed From: Los Angeles, CA
Sent To: San Francisco Chronicle

Typewritten letter:

I am the ZODIAC and I am in control of all things. I am going to tell you a secret. I like friction tape. I like to have it around in case I need to truss someone up in a hurry....I have my real name on a small metallic tape. You see, while you have it in your possession, I want you to know it belongs to me and you think I may have left it accidentally. I am athletic. It could be swim fins, or a piece of scuba gear. But maybe you play chess with me. I have several cheap sets in closets all over. I have my name on the bottom of the lid with the scotch tape....My tape is waiting for me all over California. Do you know me? I am the ZODIAC and I am in control.

Is this genuine Zodiac correspondence? What is the author trying to say, besides his boast that he is "in control."

Were any murders committed in California where someone was bound with friction tape? What about the metallic tape? Is this an I.D. tape? A measuring tape?

Swim fins. Scuba gear. Arthur Leigh Allen used these items. But, was he the Zodiac, as Graysmith suggests? Was it Allen just trying to get his kicks claiming to be the killer?

"But maybe you play chess with me." Was the Zodiac named Knight, King, or Bishop? Castle or Rook?

Friction tape. Metal tape. Scotch tape. The author is trying to say something with these references. What is he trying to say?

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